Maharashtra to set up committee to explore Telangana Model

This was after announced after a nearly two hour meeting called for by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with leaders from 14 farmers' unions in Mumbai

Hyderabad: Bowing to the growing demand of farmers in Maharashtra to replicate the Telangana Model of development with special focus on the welfare of farmers, the Eknath Shinde government on Tuesday assured to constitute a committee to explore the possibilities of implementing 24×7 power supply to the farming community on the lines of Telangana, apart from initiating farmer-oriented schemes like Rythu Bandhu.

This was after announced after a nearly two hour meeting called for by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with leaders from 14 farmers’ unions on Tuesday in Mumbai. The meeting was attended by the State’s Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar Nabi and Secretaries of Electricity, Revenue, Agriculture and other departments. The farmers’ union leaders included Vinayakrao Patil, who recently staged a hunger strike demanding implementation of the Telangana Model, apart from Raju Shetti, Panjabrao Patil and Sikandar Shah.

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The Government has assured to constitute a committee to study Telangana’s farmer friendly programmes. It will also set a deadline of one month for the committee to submit its report, Vinayakrao Patil told Telangana Today.

The committee will consist of representatives from farmers unions and senior officials from the State government. Ample time would be given to the Maharashtra government to study and explore all possibilities, including expenditure involved in implementing the schemes, he said.

“However, if we are not convinced with the committee’s report, we will launch agitations again. We will not back down until Telangana’s schemes are implemented in Maharashtra,” Vinayakrao Patil said, adding that the government would disclose details of the committee in a couple of days.

During the meeting, the farmer union leaders had demanded on extending 24 hour power supply to farmers, implementation of an input subsidy scheme on the lines of Telangana’s Rythu Bandhu, insurance coverage for farmers on the lines of Rythu Bima, a monthly pension of Rs.5000 for farmers aged above 65 years and also better Minimum Support Price for farm produce as is being given in Telangana.

“A pan shop owner sells a pan with some profit but a farmer does not have any scope to earn from profits. A strong demand was made to announce an MSP with some profit margin, covering the production cost of the farmers,” Vinayakrao Patil said.

The farmers unions have also decided to convene an all-party meeting shortly to discuss these issues, especially implementation of Telangana’s schemes in Maharashtra, said Patil, who calls himself a Kisan Jihadi and says he is not affiliated to any political party.

Former MLA and BRS Maharashtra leader Shankar Anna Dhondge hoped that the meeting and the assurance would not be a diversion tactic and said he, along with other farmers in Maharashtra, were hoping that this time, the government was committed to addressing farmers’ issues.