Kisan Sabha leader shows the concern of declining role of forests in Himachal’s economy
Himachal Pradesh Kissan Sabha leader Dr Kuldeep Singh Tanwar showed concern over the declining role of forests in the state economy.
Speaking on the third day of the state-level training and seminar Kisan Sabha State President of Kisan Sabha said that the role of forests in the state economy has declined from 40 percent to eight percent and needed more emphasis
He said that the state is plunging into the financial trap as the government could not tap the one of the important sectors of the state economy.
Speaking on the theme of “Economics of Himachal – Issues related to farming, horticulture and natural disaster” Dr. Tanwar said that today forests play a very important role in the economy of Himachal.
He said that today there is forest wealth worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore present in the state. However, its contribution to GDP has declined from 40 percent to only 8 percent today.
Apart from this, the people of Himachal are entitled to Rs 4000 crore per year from the Central Government for protecting and preserving the forest wealth of the state, which the state governments have not been able to take till now
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Director of State Resource Center Dr. O. P. Bhureta made a presentation in the seminar by analyzing the data released by various departments according to the geographical location of the state and the perspective of farmers and horticulture.
He said that the cultivable land in the state is only 11 percent. Of the other barren lands, only 4 percent is usable. Today, 9,96,809 farmer families in the state have 9,44,226 land holdings, out of which 88 percent of farmers fall in the category of small and marginal farmers (less than 2 hectares).
Dr OP said that only 9.74 percent of workers in the state are in the organized sector while 90.36 percent are in the unorganized sector, on whom the beneficial policies of the government have little to no impact.
In this regard, there is a need for Kisan Sabha to do concrete analysis and make concrete interventions.
Secretary of Milk Producers Union, Devki Nand said that by forming a separate Milk Producers Union, effective intervention can be done on the issue of milk, especially in the seven development blocks of Sutlej Basin region (Rampur, Nirmad, Ani, Karsog, Nankhadi, Kumarsen, Nichar). And by mobilizing the milk-producing farmers, they have also taken many benefits from the struggles.
Highlighting the issues of those affected by land acquisition, Joginder Walia said that there was continuous intervention after COVID with widespread mobilization of farmers. Since about 2.5 lakh hectares of land are being used for only 4 four-lane roads, there is a need for comprehensive intervention on the issues of land affected by making concrete plans at the state level.
Concluding the seminar, former General Secretary Rakesh Singha said that today capitalism at the world level is going through a deep crisis, but there are no chances of emerging easily from it. As a result, it has become difficult for small farmers to save their livelihoods.
Therefore, today there is no other way without widespread mobilization of various sections of the people and without struggles. Singha said that after this training, the next test is to make the farmers’ Maha Padav on 25th November a success. So that the nationwide mobilization of farmers can be strengthened.
While thanking the delegates who came for the training and seminar, Secretary Hottam Songkhla thanked all the colleagues who have helped in making this seminar of Kisan Sabha a success.
