Over one lakh farmers are expected to participate in the massive, statewide morcha organised by Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha and left parties in Nashik on Tuesday to highlight farmers’ and adivasis’ grievances.
National Joint Secretary, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), Dr Ashok Dhawale, said that one of the demands was complete waiver of indebted farmers’ loans in India. It is estimated that the total debt will be in the region of Rs 8 lakh crore. “If the Narendra Modi government can forego revenue of Rs 12 lakh crore for corporate India in the last two budgets, it can easily write off loans of Rs 8 lakh crore of lakhs of indebted farmers in India,” said Dr Dhawale.
Terming the situation as desperate, Dr Dhawale pointed out to farmer Madhav Kadam, who immolated himself in front of Mantralaya as he was deprived of Rs 2,000 out of the Rs 6,800 crore compensation promised. In Maharashtra alone, there are 40 lakh indebted farm households, including agricultural labourers. The average debt of a farmer is Rs 95,000. Other issues to be discussed during the morcha include farmers’ suicides and remunerative prices, complete waiver of all loans and electricity bills of farmers, remunerative prices for farm produce, water, fodder and work in drought areas, minimum Rs 50.000 per acre compensation for crop losses etc. and drought relief, Dr Dhawale told The Asian Age.
With Maharashtra having “practically become a cemetery” for farmers, BJP-led Modi and Fadnavis governments are only giving empty promises and nothing beyond that, said Dr Dhawale. A major issue will be demand for adivasis to get rights to their own land under the Forests Right Act and we will be fighting for that, said Dr Dhawale. “Out of the 350,908 applications received under this Act, 77 per cent or 2,72,675 applications were rejected in a wrong manner,” he said.
Senior leftist leader Dr D. L. Karad said that he hoped that the CM would take a decision immediately and avoid farmers’ agitation in the hot sun. “Earlier, Kisan Sabha leaders had toured 27 districts and conducted an awareness campaign last year. In Parbhani and Jalna, Kisan Sabha and Lal Bawta activists stopped a public meeting of the CM,” said a press release of Kisan Sabha.
