Kisan Sangh

The growers’ great awakening. Founded in 1937 by Ayodhya Prasad, Kisan turned scattered cane farmers into a negotiating force.

Key Facts

Founded

27 Nov 1937, western cane belt (Ba–Lautoka). Grass-roots launch in shed meetings and bazaar halls.

Organiser

Ayodhya Prasad (ex-teacher). Built village-to-shed committees, trained delegates, ran price meetings.

Strategy

“Don’t plant without a contract” (1939–40); use food/alternative crops to pressure CSR; insist on formula transparency and arrears review.

Politics

Backed B. D. Lakshman for the Legislative Council (elected 1940), linking farm demands to constitutional debate.

Flashpoint

1943 strike: Kisan opposed a full stoppage; split with the newly formed Maha Sangh hardened.

Legacy

Standardised farmer representation: shed committees, elected delegates, price formula literacy—adopted by later unions and parties.

Founding & key people

Kisan Sangh emerged from a season of mass meetings in Ba and Lautoka where growers dissected cane prices, transport fees and mill deductions.
Ayodhya Prasad coordinated a network of shed committees so each gang elected its own delegates.
In 1940, the union supported B. D. Lakshman to the Legislative Council, creating a channel from farm gate to the colony’s law-making arena.

Why it mattered

Kisan’s innovation was education: price formulas were taught, contracts were read aloud, and growers rehearsed how to negotiate as a bloc.
This changed bargaining from complaint to structured talks—food cropping and staged boycotts were used to reduce reliance on CSR planting cycles.

Flashpoints & campaigns

  • 1939–40: “Don’t plant without a contract”—farmers pivoted to food crops to compel CSR negotiations.
  • 1940: Partial concessions on the cane contract; election of B. D. Lakshman strengthened political leverage.
  • 1943: Split with Maha Sangh over strike tactics; Kisan argued for staged pressure instead of a blanket stoppage.
  • 1950s–60s: Continued participation in price reviews and constitutional dialogue, even as rival farmer bodies rose.

Today

Organisational influence has waned as new federations and parties emerged, but Kisan’s methods—committee elections, contract literacy, and crop-switch leverage—remain the template for farmer representation.

Legacy

A school for Indo-Fijian leadership: many who learned finance, meeting procedure and public speaking in shed committees later moved into municipal boards, cooperatives and Parliament.

Timeline

Milestones

1937

Kisan Sangh founded (27 Nov). Shed committees formed across the west.

1939–40

“Don’t plant without a contract” campaign; food-crop pivot forces talks with CSR.

1940

Contract concessions won; B. D. Lakshman elected to the Legislative Council with union backing.

1943

Union split over strike tactics; Maha Sangh favours stoppage, Kisan opposes.

1950s–60s

Kisan participates in subsequent contract cycles and constitutional debates.

Table of Contents

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