The BRS Impact: Demand for Rythu Bandhu gets louder in Maharashtra

Eknath Shinde government is now under compulsion to yield to the demand for the Telangana Model in one form or the other

Hyderabad: The impact of the entry of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi into the neighbouring Maharashtra is getting all the more visible each day, with a growing chorus for replication of Telangana’s Rythu Bandhu in the State.

To preempt the moves of the BRS, which is making deep inroads into the State with its slogan of ‘Ab ki Baar Kisan Sarkar’ already being taken up by farmers after just three public meetings held by Party President and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, the Eknath Shinde government is now under compulsion to yield to the demand for the Telangana Model in one form or the other.

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The need for Rythu Bandhu or a similar package to bail out the farmers in distress is being stressed not only by political quarters, social activists and farmers’ unions, but also by key officials of the State administration now.

Senior IAS officer and Divisional Commissioner of Aurangabad, Sunil Kendrekar, talking to reporters on Tuesday, called for a financial assistance of Rs.10,000 per acre to farmers like in Telangana by considering this as an ‘urgent need’. Kendrekar came out with this suggestion to the Maharashtra government in order to stop farmer suicides that are on the rise in Marathwada region. His recommendation is considered as the culmination of a comprehensive survey taken up in the region. Nearly five lakh families of farmers were covered under the stock taking exercise launched a few months ago.

He favoured reaching out to the farmers with the financial assistance before the commencement of every crop season. The Marathwada region, which comprises Aurangabad, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Osmanabad and Parbhani districts, reported 1,023 farmer suicides in 2022. As many as 10,431 farmers died by suicide in this region since 2001.

Kendrekar said the administration had taken stock of the socio-economic condition of farmers and their families in eight districts of the division. The survey was conducted to find vulnerable families, who are driven to take the extreme step due to various conditions.

“The farmer suicide rate in Marathwada is more compared to other parts of Maharashtra,” he said, pointing out that the suicides were due to poor crop yield, ravage by rain and other climatic conditions, damage caused by wild animals and costly farming inputs that are beyond the reach of many farmers.

“We called some of the affected families and gave them a patient listening. Families are getting aid after losing their bread winners to suicide,” he said, adding that it was understood that the farmer families were tired of their socio-economic condition.

“The situation is serious,” he said, pointing out that there were families with girls to be married and children who had quit school. If a family has five to seven acres of land but no adequate water, the farmer would be affected with low yields.

“Like the Telangana government, I think the farmers should be given an aid of Rs.10,000 per acre before a crop season,” he said, adding that with this, they could purchase seeds and make their farms ready for sowing.

“After this, they can purchase other farming essentials without any debt and interest. We will recommend this to the State government soon,” Kendrekar said.

According to Agriculture officials, Maharashtra lost crops in 36 million hectares in the last five years due to the impact of the climate crisis. The loss was due to erratic climatic conditions including cyclonic storms, flash floods, cloud bursts, hailstorms and drought.

Crop in 46 lakh hectares was lost last year. From September 2022 to March 2023, the crop losses were enumerated covering over 50 lakh farmers. Crop damage has been estimated to be over Rs.7,000 crore.