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Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj
Over 30,000 farmers marched to Mumbai, on 12 March, Monday, to demand a complete loan waiver and the implementation of the MS Swaminathanan Commission recommendations to safeguard farmers’ rights.
The march is being spearheaded by the Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha (AIKS), a peasants’ front of CPI(M) that works for farmers’ rights.
The farmers who commenced their 180-km-long march on Tuesday from Central Nashik, plan to gherao Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha on reaching Mumbai, although it has been reported that they will not be allowed to march beyond Azad Maidan.
Complete Waiver of Loans and Electricity Bills
One of their primary demands is a complete waiver of loans and electricity bills.
In 2017, the Maharashtra government had announced a conditional loan waiver of Rs 4,000 crores to 8.9 million farmers under the first phase of the farm loan waiver scheme after farmers held a 10-day long protest.
Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao had also told a joint session that the government transferred more than Rs 12,000 crore in the bank accounts of more than 3.1 million farmers under the loan waiver scheme, LiveMint reported.
But the Fadnavis government has been under attack for not being able to honour assurances of the farm loan waiver
Remunerative Prices for Crops
They also want Minimum Support Prices for crops to be fixed as per the Swaminathan Commission recommendations according to which they are required to be paid one-and-a-half times the cost of production.
Transfer of Forest Lands
They have also demanded the implementation of PESA [Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996] that is the transfer of forest land to those tilling it for years.
Other Demands
(Source: PRS Legislative)
According to All India Kisan Sabha National President Dr Ashok Dhawle, neither the state nor the Central government have been paying attention to farmers’ issues in Maharashtra. He claims that farmers in the state have not benefitted from policy announcements made by the two sets of governments.
“We want the state government to refrain from forceful acquisition of farm lands in the name of development projects like the super highway and tracks for bullet trains,” Raju Desle of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) told NDTV.
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