Farmers to march on Prithviraj Chavan's village

Shetkari Sanghatana (SS), along with Prahar and Kisan Mitra, has organised a rally from Amravati to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan’s native place, Kumbhargaon in Satara district, to voice the demands of farmers in the state.

The rally will start on October 23 and reach Kumbhargaon on October 27. The campaign aims to awaken the state government to the deteriorating status of farmers in Maharashtra, pressurise it to fulfill the demands of farmers, and implement recommendations of various committees formed to study farmers’ issues.

A meeting of farmers will be held in Amravati on October 23 before the rally begins and 10,000 farmers from all over the state are expected to attend, said Shetkari Sanghatana leader Vijay Javandiya.

About 40 vehicles will carry the farmers from Amravati. They will visit Nandgaon Khandeshwar, Dhanora, Malegaon, Shelubazar, Mehkar, Doosar Beed, Sindkhed Raja, Deulgaon Raja, Jalna, Aurangabad, Nevasa, Devgad, Ahmednagar, Shikrapur, Chakan, Shirur, Dehu and reach Pune on October 26.

They will then proceed to Satara and reach Umbraj. From Umbraj the farmers will walk to Karad and reach Kumbhargaon on October 27. In Kumbhargaon, they will stage ‘Dera Andolan’ at the CM’s residence.

“We have already informed the CM about our rally and we hope he will be present in Kumbhargaon to hear the farmers’ woes,’ said Javandiya.

They are demanding that until assured irrigation facility is made available, each farmer should be given financial aid of Rs10,000 per acre per annum.

The Centre should immediately implement the recommendations of Swaminathan Committee, whereas the state government should immediately implement the recommendation of Narendra Jadhav committee and the assured price for soyabean (Rs3,000), cotton (Rs5,000), tur (Rs4,000) and paddy (Rs3,000) be fixed.

The government should provide assured employment opportunity or else, Rs25 lakh compensation to all people those are affected or displaced due to development projects.

The Gharkul Yojana should be implemented on the lines of urban schemes. The eligibility criteria should be based on income and landless labourers. Minimum wages for farm labourers should be fixed at Rs300 per day as per the recommendation of the 6th pay commission.

“Irrigational facilities don’t exist all over the state except for some areas in western Maharashtra. This has to be corrected. Despite of announcement of various packages, suicides are still happening. Suicides are also happening in fertile irrigated areas of Nashik, Satara and Sangli districts. Hence, it is essential to understand the gravity of the situation and take appropriate action urgently,’’ he said adding that MLA from Vidarbha, Bacchu Kadu, will be part of the rally.