Dairies across the state have reported normal collection.
Differences within the farmers’ bodies are out in the open once again as the strike entered the fourth day on Monday. Leaders in the state not only chose to stay away from the protest but also claimed that the ongoing strike was part of a well-trenched conspiracy.
Grass-root level farmers’ organisations across the country have embarked on a 10-day strike to press for complete loan waiver and implementation of the recommendations of the M S Swaminathan Commission.
The strike is being coordinated by the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh that has vowed to keep the movement grass-root based and apolitical. The Mahasangh has called for farmers to stall the supply of milk and vegetables to urban areas.
Kolhapur-based farmer leader Ragunath Patil who heads one of the many factions of the farmers’ union, Swabhimani Sanghatana, said the movement was bound to fail as it was not well thought of. Patil, who had worked with farmer leader Sharad Joshi said a strike can only be successful if it manages to create scarcity of a commodity. “At this moment, dairies are well stocked with milk powder so, farmers stalling supplies will have little or no effect,” he said.
Patil said the strike has failed to make any difference as produce from Gujarat is being allowed through the Palghar-Thane route. He claimed that the strike was a government-sponsored one to divert attention from the real issues.
Swabhimani Paksha MP Raju Shetti said the strike has failed to strike a chord among the farmers. “Farmers do not trust the present leadership. That is the reason they have not taken part in the strike,” he said.
In June last year, farmers in Maharashtra had gone on a strike that had stopped the supply of milk and vegetables to urban areas. The protest had forced the state government to agree for a loan waiver. Till date, Rs 16,000 crores for over 40 lakh farmers has been waived off.
On Monday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar expressed his support for the strike. Pawar’s support was criticised by Pasha Patel, the chairman of the state government’s committee for agricultural pricing. Sandeep Gidde, one of the organisers of the strike, however, said they met Pawar a month or so before the strike. “The NCP has already supported the strike,” he said. Gidde dismissed the criticisms of Patil and Shetti as inconsequential. “It is a true blue grass root-level movement and the so-called farmer leaders are worried about their future,” he said.