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Mar 12, 2018 09:23 AM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com
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highlights
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will likely meet the protesting farmers at noon on Monday, reports CNN News18. Fadnavis on Sunday night had said his government will talk to the farmers who have undertaken a `Long March' to the city to press their various demands. The chief minister also appealed agitators not to hold up the traffic tomorrow so that students appearing for Std 10th exams in the city are not delayed.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will likely meet the protesting farmers at noon on Monday, reports CNN News18. Fadnavis on Sunday night had said his government will talk to the farmers who have undertaken a `Long March' to the city to press their various demands. The chief minister also appealed agitators not to hold up the traffic tomorrow so that students appearing for Std 10th exams in the city are not delayed.
Budget 2018 - what it means for Indian Agriculture
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Mumbai: Farmers of All Indian Kisan Sabha (AIKS) march from Nashik to Mumbai to gherao Vidhan Bhawan on March 12, demanding a loan waiver. PTI
Here's why farmers are protesting:
The march has been organised to protest the failures of the state BJP government on the farm front, including issues like farm loan waivers, remunerative prices for produce, non-implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission as well as the Forest Rights Act, he said.
Protesting farmers have demanded a change in the plan to link rivers in Nashik, Thane and Palghar to ensure that tribal lands are not submerged and water from the scheme be made available to these areas as well as other drought-prone districts, organisers said.
They said that farmers were also protesting against the state government's land acquisition for projects like high speed rail and super highways.
Maharashtra farmers, who have now reached Azad Maidan after walking overnight from KJ Somaiyya ground in Sion, are reportedly dehydrated from travelling in the scorching sun for 30 kilometres on Sunday in Mumbai. There is a medical dispensary set up at Azad Maidan. "Farmers were suffering from blood pressure and diarrhea," doctors told CNN-News18.
Mumbai: Farmers of All Indian Kisan Sabha (AIKS) march from Nashik to Mumbai to gherao Vidhan Bhawan on March 12, demanding a loan waiver. PTI
Opposition Congress, NCP, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and AAP, as well as ruling ally Shiv Sena have extended support to the farmers' march.
Patidar leader from Gujarat Nikhil Sawani, who joined the march, said his community supported the protesters. As the march reached suburban Vikhroli, the phalanx of farmers — comprising both men and women — extended for almost three kilometres.
Senior Shiv Sena leder and cabinet minister Eknath Shinde and Yuva Sena (Shiv Sena's youth wing) chief Aditya Thackeray also greeted the protesters in suburban Vikhroli.
Thackeray said the Shiv Sena stood "shoulder to shoulder" with farmers in their struggle. It was wrong to say that farmers were demanding loan waiver, as they are not criminals that they should need a `waiver', Aditya said, adding "farmers are fighting for `freedom from debt'."
As so many farmers have marched to Mumbai despite the government's grand loan waiver, Sena leaders have demanded to see the list of actual beneficiaries of the scheme, he said.
Mumbai: Farmers of All Indian Kisan Sabha (AIKS) march from Nashik to Mumbai to gherao Vidhan Bhawan on March 12, demanding a loan waiver. PTI
JUST IN | Shiv Sena says they are not going to let the assembly function today until the farmers' demands are met, reports CNN News18.
Senior BJP leader and Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar also assured that the chief minister will meet the protestors' delegation, and blamed the "apathetic" approach of past governments for the farmers' woes.
"Our government is committed to address all the grievances of farmers, which have accumulated due to the apathetic approach of the last several years...We are very sensitive towards farmers and two ministers (Tribal Development Minister Vishnu Savara and Mahajan) have already been asked to look into their demands," Mungantiwar told PTI.
From the government's side, Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, who is also guardian minister for Nashik district, met farmers' leaders in Mulund as the march entered Mumbai, and assured that most of their demands will be met.
"The Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) has sent me to meet you. Most of your demands will be met. We will take a delegation to the chief minister," Mahajan said, addressing the protesters.
The government had reached out to farmers, promising to meet their demands, but farmers' leaders said they will press on with today's protest at the Vidhan Bhavan (Legislature Complex).
No govt can be insensitive to farmers' problems : RSS
Farmers' problems should be understood sensitively and practical solutions found for them, the RSS said on Sunday.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) General Secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi said there was a need to change the agrarian policy and the government has to ensure that farmers get a proper price for their produce. However, he noted that there were a few obstacles in doing so.
Replying to a query on farmers' issues, he said their problems should be understood sensitively and practical solutions found for them. "No government can be insensitive on the questions related to farmers and it has to be sensitive towards farmers and find ways to address their problems. It is their job to think and find a solution," Joshi told reporters here at the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) of the RSS, the ruling BJP's ideological mentor.
His remarks assume significance as they come against the backdrop of thousands of farmers from various districts of Maharashtra marching towards Mumbai to protest outside the state assembly. Joshi said the farmers also need to change their mindset and while farming, they must keep government policies in mind.
This govt can't do anything for you: Raj Thackeray
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday came out in support of the farmers who have reached here after undertaking a 'Long March' to Mumbai from Nashik to press their various demands including full loan waiver.
"This government is incapable of doing anything," the MNS chief said, addressing thousands of farmers who rested at Somaiya Ground in Sion area after reaching the city this evening.
"I have come to greet you. You have come all the way in this heat. Give me the reins of power and I will show what can be done," the MNS chief said.
"Don't forget your bleeding feet. These people (the BJP-led Maharashtra government) have shown you dreams, but have not kept their word," Thackeray said.
"Don't fall prey to their promises. They value you only during elections. Farmer suicides haven't stopped in this state yet. Tomorrow the government will try to fob you off with some promises. But the government itself is pauper, so what can it offer you?" Thackeray said.
Apart from opposition parties, Shiv Sena, a partner in the ruling coalition, too has vocally supported the agitation, isolating the ruling BJP.
"On Sunday, our number was over 35,000. Over 20,000 farmers from other parts of the state will join on Monday," Kisan Gujar, president of the state council of AIKS, said, adding that the farmers were also protesting against land acquisition for projects such as high-speed railway and super-highways.
The farmers, led by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), are demanding, among other things, proper implementation of the Maharashtra government's loan waiver scheme. Braving scorching heat, they have covered around 180 km on foot in six days.
"We will gherao (lay siege to) the Vidhan Bhavan to demand a complete loan waiver, fair price for farm produce, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, compensation for hailstorm-affected farmers among other things," Kisan Gujar, president of the state council of AIKS, said.
Over 35,000 farmers from across Maharashtra, who embarked on a 'Long March' from Nashik on March 6 to press their various demands, will lay siege to the legislature today.