The Hindu Business Line : Kisan Sabha to organise farmers' meet

THE All-India Kisan Sabha will organise a `Kerala State Kisan Panchayat' in Thiruvananthapuram on February 26, says a communiqué from the Kerala State Council of the Kisan Sabha.

The meeting is expected to draw participation from several thousand farmers representing the 1,000 odd panchayats in the State, the release states. In the run up to the state-level Kisan Panchayat, meetings of farmers will be held in all panchayats in Kerala, the release adds.

Following the state-level panchayat, the delegates will march to the State Secretariat to submit a charter of demands to the Government of Kerala, the release states.

According to the press release, the Kisan Panchayat will discuss a variety of issues confronting the State's farmers.

Subjects that will be discussed at the meeting include demands for a moratorium on all farm loans up to Rs 50,000, fixing the rate of interest on agricultural loans at 4 per cent, provision of interest-free loans to farmers who have suffered crop loss, need for a concerted effort to defeat attempts to weaken land reforms in Kerala and so on, the release adds.