Name of Fellow: Balwant Yadav
Genre: Social and Economic Justice
Area of Work: Ballia, Uttar Pradesh
Balwant Yadav has been working on farmers’ rights and their issues for more than two decades now. He started his activism when he was a student in Banaras Hindu University. At the university he, along with a few other students, formed a students’ group against the illegal occupation of hostel rooms and started a movement in the campus.
His experience as a student activist prompted him to take up the issues of peasantry in the coming years. Subsequently, leading social movements and struggles for the farmers rights became part of his life.
A law graduate, Balwant had started to practice law initially but being from a peasant family, he wanted to continue his family’s agricultural practices. So, he decided to devote his time to cultivation. As an educated youth and having the zeal to lead movements, he started to raise the farmers’ issues in front of the authorities. Possessing both academic and on ground knowledge on issues of farmers, he started arguing very articulately.
When he started to do farming independently in 2004, he realized that the input cost in cultivation was growing gradually and the benefit was negligible. Fertilizers, tractor, diesel, seed etc. became expensive but the prices for produce was not adequate proportionately. Facing this problem in his personal life, he became fully devoted to raise the issues of farmers.
He began to raise issues of payment of sugarcane purchases, high rates of fertilizers, buying of farmers’ crop on minimum support price etc. in front of the district authorities. In this process he began take part in various national movements led by farmers. He participated in the 10-day-long Punjab to Delhi foot march in 2015 asserting the demand of ensuring MSP for farmers.
He actively participated and mobilized farmers from eastern UP to join the historic farmers’ protest at the borders of Delhi.
Since starting his activism to pursue the issues of farmers, Balwant observes that after the various farmers’ movements, the authorities have started to realise the social influence of farmers. He says that the authorities have learnt that there are educated people who are doing farming. The earlier popular imagination of peasantry was destitute, helpless, unable to speak up for themselves, and living in misery but that has changed.
As a law graduate Balwant used to give his introduction as a lawyer to argue with the state authorities but “now articulating as a farmer also makes sense to them” he opines. His committed efforts have consequently made him a farmers’ leader in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh.
As a farmer activist, he has base in his district among the peasants and labourers. In his regular meetings with the community members, he discusses justice for farmers, prevailing communal situation in the country and how to promote communal harmony, spreading the brotherhood among the members from various communities.
He intends to build leadership among the farmers to raise the ideas of justice, secularism, communal harmony, exploitation of labour, etc. within their localities.