The farmers, many dressed in red shirts and red caps, and holding up flags with sickle and hammer, began the protest march from Nashik on Tuesday evening and are walking the 180 km to Mumbai night with halts at every 30 odd km.
Their main demand is a full loan waiver and the implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report.
"I have a loan of Rs 3,00,000, I filled the form for loan waiver three months ago but got no reply from the bank," said Tukaram Chaudhary, a 65-year farmer who grows bajra and maize, said.
The Maharashtra government has been under pressure after continuous protests by farmers who alleged the Fadnavis government did not honour assurances given to farmers when it announced a conditional farm loan waiver of Rs 34,000 crore in June last year.
45-year-old Narayan Gavit said he has been farming on the same land his ancestors did, but the land has not yet been transferred to them.
"Our land has not been transferred to our name. We have been tiling the land since 1957. My ancestors died tilling this land and I also may die but I don't know when the land will be transferred," said Mr Gavit.
On the way to Mumbai as the hot sun tires them out, villages along the way give the farmers water so that they can carry on.
All India Kisan Sabha, the farmers' group organising the march, has claimed that as many as 1,753 farmers have killed themselves since June last year.
Comments
The Maharashtra government has sent a memorandum to the Centre seeking a financial assistance of Rs 2,400 crore for pink bollworm attacks on cotton crops and damage to crops caused by hailstorms and unseasonal rain, news agency PTI quoted state Agriculture Minister Pandurang Fundkar as saying. The centre is yet to release the funds.Farmers are also demanding a complete change in the river linking scheme proposed to be implemented in Nashik, Thane and Palghar so that tribal villages are not submerged.
