Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has assured tribal farmers in the state that their forest land claims would be settled by December this year.
A delegation of the protesting tribals met Mr Fadnavis at Vidhan Bhavan during the Winter Session of the state legislature. During the meet, the chief minister also gave assurance to representatives of protesting farmers that drought benefits would also be given to those tribals where forestland rights appeals are still pending.
The farmers and tribals had begun the two-day march from Thane to Mumbai on Wednesday. They reached Azad Mai-dan on Thursday dema-nding the redressal of their grievances, which include compensation for drought and transfer of forest rights to tribals. The farmers and tribals They had halted for the night at the Somaiyya Ground in Sion. The march traversed through Dadar and the JJ flyover before reaching the Maidan, adjacent to the Mumbai municipal corporation headquarters.
Tribal welfare minister Vishnu Savara said that out of 3.6 lakh claims that the state government had received, 1.74 lakh have been settled in favour of tribals. Simil-arly, 12,000 claims for community forest activities were also received, of which 7,700 have been settled. The remaining claims will be settled by December this year.
“We have been asking the state government to fulfil our long-standing demands for a long time, but the response has not been encouraging. Hence we were forced to launch this agitation,” said Pratibha Shinde, general secretary of Lok Sangharsh Morcha, which organised the protest.
Farmers are demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report, which suggested that farmers must have assured access and control over resources such as land and water. They are also demanding an increase in the minimum support price and a judicial system to ensure its implementation.
The farmers, struggling to cope with the agrarian crisis, are demanding proper implementation of the loan waiver package announced by the BJP-led government in the state last year, land rights for farmers and compensation for farm labourers.
Magsaysay Award winner Dr Rajendra Singh, also known as Waterman of India, was among the marchers. He blamed the government for the drought, which he termed “man-made”.
