Bhartiya Kisan Sangh

Bhartiya Kisan Sangh
Name	Bhartiya Kisan Sangh
Native name	भारतीय किसान संघ
Formation	1978
Founder	Nanaji Deshmukh
Type	Farmers' organization
Headquarters	New Delhi
Region served	India
Affiliations	Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Bhartiya Kisan Sangh

Bhartiya Kisan Sangh is an Indian farmers' organization founded in 1978 that operates across states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Bihar and engages with institutions like the Union Cabinet, Reserve Bank of India, Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Food Corporation of India and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. It was established amid debates over policies shaped by the Green Revolution, the National Agricultural Policy (1978), the Fourth Five Year Plan (1969–74), and the broader milieu of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh network, linking leaders from regions including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The organization interacts with agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Central Warehousing Corporation, State Agricultural Universities, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and engages public figures from the spheres of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L. K. Advani, Prakash Javdekar, Sharad Pawar, and Arvind Kejriwal in policy debates.

History

The group's founding in 1978 followed initiatives by activists associated with Vinoba Bhave, Deendayal Upadhyaya, Nanaji Deshmukh, and contemporaries linked to the RSS and preceded or paralleled movements such as the Jai Jawan Jai Kisan era and responses to the Emergency (1975–1977). Early engagements involved protests over procurement policies set by the Food Corporation of India and disputes around the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act in states like Haryana and Punjab. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the organization contested policy shifts during the Economic Liberalisation in India and the implementation of measures influenced by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization. In the 2000s and 2010s it mobilized around issues arising from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, crop insurance schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, and debates over genetically modified crops involving institutions such as the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee.

Organization and Leadership

Organizationally the body mirrors federated structures seen in mass organizations tied to networks such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and coordinates with entities like the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Bharatiya Janata Party, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and state-level committees in Kerala, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Jharkhand. Key founding and guiding figures have included leaders associated with Nanaji Deshmukh and successors comparable to personalities active in BJP politics such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L. K. Advani in the public record. The leadership has interfaced with bureaucratic offices including the Cabinet Secretariat and academic institutions such as the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.

Ideology and Objectives

The group's stated objectives emphasize protections for cultivators in line with positions articulated by thinkers linked to Deendayal Upadhyaya and policy frameworks endorsed by some within the Sangh Parivar. It advocates for procurement assurances through instruments like the Minimum Support Price mechanism, measures related to the Public Distribution System, water management projects such as initiatives under the National Water Mission and irrigation schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana. Positions have touched on trade liberalization negotiations at the WTO, seed policy debated in forums such as the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority, and inputs regulation involving the Insecticides Act and fertiliser policies connected to the Department of Fertilisers.

Activities and Campaigns

The organization has organized marches, dharnas and protests in coordination with unions like the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and coalitions such as the All India Kisan Sabha, participating in countrywide agitations similar in scale to the protests that confronted measures debated in the Indian Parliament and mobilizations contemporaneous with those led by leaders linked to Sharad Joshi and Swami Sahajanand Saraswati traditions. Campaigns have targeted institutions including the Food Corporation of India, State Agricultural Marketing Boards, and regulatory bodies like the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission over rural power tariffs. It has participated in policy advocacy before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture and engaged with judicial review via petitions in the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts of India.

Relationship with Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh Parivar

The association maintains organizational and ideological ties with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and interacts with political formations such as the Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Party, and allies in state-level coalitions like those involving the Shiv Sena and Janata Dal (United). Relationships have manifested through coordination during electoral cycles, policy consultations involving ministers from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and party leaders such as Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and through shared platforms with civil society actors connected to the Sangh Parivar including the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and Anusuchit Jati Sangathan affiliates.

Impact and Criticism

The organization's impact includes influence on debates over the Minimum Support Price, procurement policy of the Food Corporation of India, and water resources development under initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, while critics from formations such as the All India Kisan Sabha, Kisan Mukti Morcha, Left Front (India), and civil society groups including People’s Union for Civil Liberties and academics from institutions like Jawaharlal Nehru University have accused it of prioritizing ideological alignment with the Sangh Parivar and party-linked agendas over demands advanced by other farmer movements. Media coverage in outlets such as The Hindu, Times of India, Indian Express and commentary by scholars at Centre for Policy Research have debated its role in shaping agricultural policy, with disputes often adjudicated in forums like parliamentary committees and courts including the Supreme Court of India.

Membership and Regional Presence

Membership is organized through state units in regions including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal and Kerala, with local chapters interfacing with institutions such as Krishi Vigyan Kendra, State Agricultural Universities, District Rural Development Agency and local Panchayati Raj bodies. The group's presence is felt in both irrigated and rainfed agroecologies, engaging with commodity boards like the Tea Board of India and Spices Board of India and with stakeholders in cash crop regions and staple-producing belts across the Indo-Gangetic Plain and peninsular states.

Category:Agrarian organisations in India