Maharashtra farmers suffer as govt turns deaf ear to their plight

As the Telangana government is setting a benchmark with its proactive measures in addressing farmers' issues, the farming community in Maharashtra is up in arms against the State government

Hyderabad: When it comes to ensuring the welfare of farmers, there are contrasting situations in Telangana and the neighbouring State of Maharashtra. As the Telangana government is setting a benchmark with its proactive measures in addressing farmers’ issues, the farming community in Maharashtra is up in arms against the State government and has been repeatedly staging protests after being denied even basic requirements such as Minimum Support Price for their crops and compensation for damages due to natural calamities like rains.

Last Wednesday, more than 15,000 farmers from Maharashtra set out on a foot march from Akole in Ahmednagar to Lone, pressing for adequate compensation for land acquisition, remunerative prices for milk, cotton and other crops. Several women were also part of the march, which began under the aegis of All India Kisan Sabha. With the march attracting attention from different quarters, the Eknath Shinde government was forced to initiate talks with the farmers.

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Earlier, vexed with the government’s negligence, about 20,000 farmers conducted a march from Dindori in Nashik towards Mumbai, covering 200 km in the scorching heat. The march, under the aegis of Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, began on March 13 with a charter of many demands, including MSP for onions, free power supply for farmers, speedy compensation for crop losses due to unseasonal rains and forest land rights. Apart from the long march from Nashik to Mumbai in March 2018, the farmers had tried to organise a similar march to Mumbai in 2019, which was however, stopped by the police.

The situation in Telangana is in sharp contrast to this. While the Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima schemes ensure financial assistance for cultivation and for the kin of farmers who die, the government has been ensuring MSP apart from procuring all the paddy by setting up over 7,000 procurement centres. After the recent unseasonal rains, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao personally went on an inspection of the damage in four districts and announced a compensation of Rs 10,000 per acre.

Already, instructions have been issued to the officials to deposit the compensation directly into their bank accounts. The exercise is under progress. Further, the State government is gearing up to hand over Pattas (ownership certificates) for Podu lands in forest lands for tribals, who have been cultivating the lands.