Mumbai: Farmers in Maharashtra have outright rejected the Union government’s financial assistance of Rs 6000 per, calling it a bluff. Firstly, the farmers feel this move is intended to enhance their reliance on the government, which they feel is aimed at merely securing their votes. Balu Bhegde, a farmer from Malewada in Aurangabad district, a marginal farmer having farm land of 1.25 acres, equated the Rs 16.6 per day for the entire family to two cutting chais, which they sip on a daily basis.
“This amount, when calculated, is Rs 16.6 per day for our entire family. With this, a farmer in Maharashtra can only buy ‘half cutting’ chai twice a day. We do not want such chai paisa,” said Bhegde. Farmers from Thane, Buldhana and Aurangabad district, while speaking to The Free Press Journal, expressed concern over this assistance and requested the government ‘not to insult their self-esteem’.
Moreover, Maharashtra farmers have demanded that the government should increase the miinimum prices of agricultural produce. Most of them, especially cane farmers, also face recurring problems like non-payment of dues by factories and staggered payments.
But Bhegde lamented the dangerous trend to make them reliant on State subsistence. “This is a bad practice. This dependence on government, which they are trying to inflict on us, is a dangerous move. Instead of giving us a decent fair price, for which we are clamouring, the government is trying to silence us,” said Bhegde. He further said that because of the recent drought, many onion farmers were forced to sell their produce at a less than remuneration price.
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All farmers FPJ talked with said that Rs 6000 per year is a miniscule amount because the production cost for any major crop like cotton or onion is approximately Rs 25,000 per acre. They also have to cough up for fertilisers and pesticides. Vijay Ghonge, a farmer who lives in a joint family with two brothers in Bamkhed village of Buldhana district said, “We require Rs 2500 just for our groceries every month. We cannot live on this sort of assistance.”
Many leaders of farmers believe that this a deliberate ploy of the government to divide the community, constraining them to accept the financial concession. “The government is dividing farmers by drawing a line between marginal and big land-owning farmers. This is a cruel joke. This monetary assistance will be given to only those marginal farmers who have less than two hectares of land.
However, in drought-prone Marathwada and Vidarbha, the average land-holding is larger than this and they will be deprived of this scheme. This is a clear attempt to divide the farming community and those in dire need are being ignored,” said Baban Harne, convenor of Sangharsh Samiti against Samruddhi corridor. Harne, hails from Shahapur taluka in Thane district. Harne demanded that the government should instead work on giving farmers a fair price for their agricultural yield.