Collective declaration of civil disobedience

Fifteen thousand farmers gather in Mandleshwar to protest against 
electricity tariff hikes in Madhya Pradesh.

Collective declaration of civil disobedience, electricity bills 
stopped in over 500 villages in five districts of Madhya Pradesh : 
Jan Ayog formed under the chairmanship of Ex- CEA Chairman Shri 
Sambhamurty to assess power sector reforms in Madhya Pradesh.

Nearly fifteen thousand farmers and workers belonging to 5 districts 
of Nimad region of Madhya Pradesh including Khargone, Dhar, Badwani,  
Dewas and Khandwa took part today in a massive public protest in 
Mandleshwar under the aegis of the Nimad - Malwa Kisan Mazdoor 
Sangathan to raise their voices against the recent, huge and 
completely unjustified increase in electricity tariff hikes in the 
state at the instance of the Asia Development Bank. These farmers 
and mazdoors have responded to the tariff increase that will take 
away water from the fields and light from the homes of millions of 
people by launching a programme of civil disobedience with the central 
slogan of " Videshi gulami nahi sahenge, Bill nahi Jail bharenge" 
(we will not withstand foreign domination, we will fill not the 
electricity bills, but  the jails) that had spread to over 500 
villages in the state by now. 

The public program was addressed by local farmer leaders - Manshram 
Jat of District Dhar, Kalubhai of Village Mardana, Dr. Dongre of 
Kasrawad, Mahesh Billorey of Karahi, Lokendra Dhangar of Anjad region, 
and women activists Matamai, Punijiji and Sundar bai, as well as 
Magsayasay winner and peace activist Shri Sandeep Panday, national 
farmer's leader Shri Vijay Jawandia, Ms. Shalmali Guttal of FOCUS, 
Shamim Meghani of Shramik Adivasi Sangathan, Vijaybhai of Adivasi 
Mukti Sangathan and Shri Alok Agarwal, senior activist of the NBA as 
well as a founder of the Nimad Malwa Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan. The 
program was interspersed with songs of struggle, patriotism and 
celebrating the Narmada, and was conducted by Shri Sanjay Nigam. 
The farmers and leaders of the struggle called upon the state and 
Central governments to immediately cancel the agreement that they 
have signed with the Asian Development Bank and to take back the 
hike in electricity tariffs and warned the government that the people 
of this state would not withstand the subordination of public 
interest to foreign capital and their institutions including 
multilateral institutions such as the Asian Development Bank. They 
declared that if the governments do not respond positively to the 
demands of the people, and do not immediately cancel the agreement 
with the ADB and reverse the tariff hike, they would fill the jails 
of Madhya Pradesh in thousands.

Addressing the public meeting, Jagdish Patidar, senior activist of 
the Nimad Malwa Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan said that the privatization 
of public infrastructure would badly affect the farmers and must be 
therefore fought against at any cost. However, it must be recognized 
that it was a part of a larger process of the state withdrawal from 
crucial public support for the agricultural sector, at the instance 
of the foreign institutions. Today, on the 27th of February, on the 
anniversary of the Godhra incident that had sparked off the most 
tragic and divisive period of Indian history since partition and 
independence, he said that it was unfortunate that the main stream 
political parties were refusing to respond the severe crisis facing 
the Indian farmers and workers and the Indian state, and were 
instead playing at divisive politics, Therefore the Nimad Malwa Kisan 
Maazdoor Sangathan had taken on the challenge to develop a Kisan and 
Mazdoor agenda in the next few months, through wide spread 
consultations that would put together issues that are crucial to the 
survival of farmers and workers.

Shri Alok Agarwal, the leader of the struggle against the destructive 
Maheshwar dam and one of the founder members of the Nimad Malwa Kisan 
Mazdoor Sangathan said that in the coming days, it would be imperative 
to extend the resistance to thousands of other villages all over the 
state. He warned the assembled farmers and workers that it is becoming 
increasingly clear that the state and Central governments were trying 
to sabotage and dismantle the state electricity board as a public 
sector entity. The daily newspaper reports about the failure of the 
thermal plants and the proposed retrenchment of 24,000 workers out 
of a total of 63,000 workers points in this direction. However, the 
experience of the power sector in private hands had failed even in 
the most developed state of the most developed country in the world - 
that of California where the massive tariff increases by the private 
operators and the resulting opposition forced the Governor to say 
that electricity is a public utility, not a luxury good and so it 
cannot be allowed to be in private hands. Therefore the survival of 
the farmers and the rural poor was dependent on the survival of the 
State Electricity Board and we must fight to save it and the entire 
production economy of Madhya Pradesh.

He said that although the ADB loan was for reforms, there was no 
improvement and the only outcome seems to be the ongoing dismantling 
of the MPSEB and to raise the electricity tariffs sufficiently high 
so as to attract private industrialists and multinational 
corporations. He said that the power sector reforms and the repeated 
tariff increases in Madhya Pradesh needed to be subjected to the 
most intense public scrutiny and the Nimad Malwa Kisan Mazdoor 
Sangathan was privileged to announce today the formation of such a 
Jan Ayog (People's commission) to be headed by the Ex- Chairman of 
the Central Electricity Authority - Shri Sambhamurty. Shri Probir 
Purakayashta, well known energy expert would also be part of this 
commission.

Women leaders of this area - Matamai of Village Pathrad, Sundarbai 
of Village Mardana and Punijiji of Village Sulgaon also addressed 
the gathering and especially the thousands of women gathered there. 
They said that now women would have to rise for the defence of 
their families, their villages and the country and that they must 
be prepared to face even the gallows or death to stop this 
destruction and foreign slavery. They announced that the next phase 
of the struggle against the tariff hike would be under the 
leadership of the organization - the Narmada Shakti Dal and that 
they would organize Gram Suraksha Samitis (Village Protection 
committees) and Grid Suraksha Samitis ( Grid Protection Committees) 
to prevent the state from severing their electricity connections 
and plunging them into darkness.

Addressing the rally, Shri Vijay Jawandia, prominent farmer leader 
from Maharashtra shared the experience of the farmer's organizations 
from Maharashtra and the rest of the country and said that the WTO 
regime was crushing the farmers and pushing them to starvation and 
suicide, therefore the only alternative was to unite and fight 
whether it was for state support for procurement of cotton such as 
the farmers of Maharashtra had done, or against the privatization 
of public infrastructure. Shri Sandeep Pandey, peace activist and 
Magsaysay award winner called on the people to understand the link 
between globalisation and militarism. He said that it was important 
to understand that the wars against Afghanistan, Iraq or North Korea 
was not against global terrorism but to consolidate the economic 
interests of the developed countries and corporate rule throughout 
the world. Ms. Shalmali Guttal of FOCUS said that there was no 
alternative but to fight because it was not only in the power sector 
that the ADB was bringing in anti-people policies. Privatization of 
water, one of the most important of human needs is also very much a 
part of their agenda, therefore we need to prevent the takeover of 
our country by such institutions. She described the struggle against 
Samut Prakan Project in Thailand where the people eventually won 
against the ADB. She said that an alliance was emerging all through 
the world against the Asia Development Bank and other foreign 
financial institutions and so we must link up with these other 
struggles to be able to make an impact.

It may be noted that on the 30th of November 2002, the Madhya Pradesh 
State Electricity Regulatory Commission responded to the MPSEB's 
petition (made in compliance with Asia Development Bank's conditions 
for the release of its second tranche ) for a 600% increase in 
tariffs by awarding an 800% increase!! Anticipating the tariff 
hike, the Nimad Malwa Kisan Mazdoor Sanghathan and the Jan 
Sangharsh Morcha that is the forum of people's organizations in 
the state, offered resistance to this move and through October and 
November 2002, organized an Azadi Bachao - Bijli Bachao yatra and 
large public demonstrations and protests all through the state. 
This public pressure forced the state to subsidise the tariff 
increase, but even after subsidies, the increase works out to 300%, 
i.e. a 67% increase in the bills to be paid and a decrease in the 
amount of electricity for which these tariffs are applicable from 
24 hours to 6 hours.

However the peasants and mazdoors of Madhya Pradesh are not in a 
position to withstand these tariff increases, especially given the 
over all situation of the WTO regime, the fall in prices of 
agricultural commodities and increase in the price of agricultural 
inputs, fall in rural employment and continuing drought for the 
last five years. The first tariff increase in November 2001, also 
part of ADB's conditionalities has already put thousands of farmers 
outside the grid. 

Sanjay Nigam 	Mangat Verma 	Chittaroopa Palit