Among the 38 demands that the Manifesto outlines, the first is Setting up of a Shetkari Kamgar Commission or Agrarian Welfare Commission. This will be a statutory body and comprise not just government officials but eminent independent experts on the agrarian sector. Any new, incoming government must also commit to a special session of the Assembly on the agrarian crisis and related issues, the Manifesto states.

Senior journalist and expert on the rural political economy, P Sainath and scientist Dinesh Abrol released the document.

Empahsising the crucial need to supplement the existing and totally inadequate Minimum Support Price for cash crops like cotton, soybean and sugarcane in Maharashtra with a 20 % bonus, the Manifesto states that both Tamil Nadu and Kerala have long had this practice where the state adds a sum to the Central MSP for their own requirements. (A bonus of 30 % for paddy and 20 % for wheat was announced as PM guarantee in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh during the respective state elections. Why not the same principle in Maharashtra?) Besides, the Farmers Manifesto states that the state should intervene more strongly in the purchase of soya bean and cotton to stabilize the incomes of farmers of Maharashtra.

Besides, the new government must speedily curb the runaway rise in the cost of inputs due to the corporate capture of input production and supply. Maharashtra is in a situation where many farmers did not realize even their production costs across multiple crops last season. Farmers must be compensated for their loss of income. The new government must waive off all outstanding agricultural loans of farmers from suicide-affected families and provide appropriate opportunities to children of all such families.

Recognising the crucial issue of failing agricultural credit, the document states that, “ Mumbai being the headquarters of institutions like NABARD and the financial capital of India, the new government must leverage  its strength to oppose any dilution of apex DFI status of NABARD and ensure that the flow of NABARD concessionary funds are strengthened in the interest of landless, small, marginal farmers and development of people centric cooperative banking in India in general and Maharashtra in particular.

In addition, “The new government will have to take the responsibility of evolving at least 100 bankable models of Integrated farming and processing of farm products to support agro-ecological approaches in the state of Maharashtra. Marketing support by Govt should be part of the plan. The new government will have to ensure an increase in rural branches of banks and increase staff strength to support the holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors.”

The entire detailed document may be read here:

October 28, 2024

Kisan Mazdoor Commission and Nation for Farmers declare a

FARMERS’ MANIFESTO FOR MAHARASHTRA

It is imperative that crucial demands of the agrarian sector feature in the manifestos and debates of all political parties before the elections are held in Maharashtra. There is no state in the country where the impact of the agrarian crisis has taken a greater toll, as for instance, in the distress suicides of farmers. The Kisan Mazdoor Commission and Nation for Farmers believe that all political parties with farmers’ interests at heart should commit themselves to the following:

1. Setting up of a Shetkari Kamgar Commission or Agrarian Welfare Commission. It will be a statutory body and comprise not just government officials but eminent independent experts on the agrarian sector. Any new, incoming government must commit to a special session of the Assembly on the agrarian crisis and related issues.

2. A new government must commit itself to supplementing the existing and totally inadequate Minimum Support Price for cash crops like cotton, soybean and sugarcane in Maharashtra with a 20 % bonus. Tamil Nadu and Kerala have long had this practice where the state adds a sum to the Central MSP for their own requirements. (A bonus of 30 % for paddy and 20 % for wheat was announced as PM guarantee in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh during the respective state elections. Why not the same principle in Maharashtra?) The state should intervene more strongly in the purchase of soya bean and cotton to stabilize the incomes of farmers of Maharashtra.

3. The new government must speedily curb the runaway rise in the cost of inputs due to the corporate capture of input production and supply. Maharashtra is in a situation where many farmers did not realize even their production costs across multiple crops last season. Farmers must be compensated for their loss of income. The new government must waive off all outstanding agricultural loans of farmers from suicide-affected families and provide appropriate opportunities to children of all such families.

4. The new government must waive the debt of small and marginal farmers (owning land less than 10 hectares) to create a clean slate for the holistic development of agricultural and allied sectors in Maharashtra. It must plug the loopholes of the loan waiver process in Maharashtra. The positive process on loan waiver initiated by the Maharashtra government between 2019-2022 was subjected to much damage by the successor government. This must be set right. Agricultural loans must be a right for every farmer.

5. Remunerative prices must be given to all crops including millets, pulses, vegetables, and fruits, milk and other such identifiable produce so that farmers of Maharashtra can move to a developed cropping system while reducing the water footprint.

6. The new government must speedily address land rights issues. For generations, thousands of farmers have been cultivating lands classified as Class 3 Devsthan and Inami lands. These lands are technically owned by the Temple Trusts and as a result, the farmers cannot access any benefits of government agriculture schemes, nor can they create assets such as wells, pipelines, etc. We demand that these land titles be transferred as Class 1 land with the names of the cultivators as owners.

7. In Maharashtra, no government can further delay dealing with the burning issues related to the Forest Rights Act. The new government must stop the uprooting of Adivasi farmers in the name of compensatory afforestation and ensure strict implementation without dilution of Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and Forest Rights Act, 2006. The government must provide land and livelihood rights to the landless and project-affected people, and give them agricultural and homestead land, water for fishing, cultivation, livestock-rearing and mining of minor minerals. The new government shall set up a dedicated state authority to sort out the implementation of FRA. It shall provide necessary financial and technical help to develop as well as implement a plan for the land forest dwellers get under community forest rights so that they can have a dignified and prosperous life based on Jal, Jangal and Jameen.

8. The government must declare there will be no privatization of water in any form. And that all distribution of water will be equitable and just. An equitable minimum of water, necessary for livelihood, to be provided to every rural family living off agriculture and related livelihoods along the lines of the Atpadi tahsil pattern. Given that the idea originated with him, the new government will call this programme the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Samanyayi Pani Vattap Yojana (Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Equitable Water Distribution Programme).

9. Real cultivators including tenant farmers, sharecroppers, women farmers, lessee cultivators and rural workers will have to be registered immediately to ensure their access to benefits of all schemes for agriculture. The government must identify, recognize, and protect the interests and rights of tenant farmers. Including extending to them the benefits of all official schemes relating to agriculture. The KMC and NFF understand ‘farmer’ to mean and include landed farmers, landless farmers (agricultural labourers), tenant farmers, women farmers, Dalit farmers, Adivasi farmers, livestock (including dairy) farmers, nomadic pastoralists, forest produce gatherers and fisher-folk.

10. The new govt must review the Sagarmala projects and dilution of Coastal Regulation guidelines displacing the fishermen to help corporates in the name of tourism and infrastructure development. It will take all efforts to declare traditional fishermen as scheduled tribes and provide them adequate subsidies for fuel and equipment.

11. A new government must ensure the distribution of Gairan/wasteland grazing land for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe landless labourers. It must also implement measures for land distribution and housing for SC/STs; (enactment Maharashtra GR of 1978 and 1991). Further, it must ensure that the Atrocities Act is strictly implemented to ensure that encroachers on land granted to SCs under this law, are removed and other preventive measures under the law implemented.

12. In 2019, Maharashtra State government formed Gopinath Munde Corporation for Sugarcane. The corporation was to give ID cards to all sugarcane cutters, provide life insurance, accident cover, hostel facilities for children of sugarcane cutters and medical facilities at work, but lies dormant. We demand the Corporation be made active and functional and fulfil its mandate.

13. The new government will have to ensure that every woman in the village wishing to start “parasbaug” cultivation is given 100% subsidy to cultivate the backyards of their houses. Women mostly take care of all domestic work and also take care of children and the elderly and also then do agricultural work on their own farms. They should be given Rs. 5000 per month to compensate for the unpaid work by the state government.

14. The Dongrgaon (Sangola taluka, Solapur district) pattern of collective farming by the Dalit families (who have fragmented small holdings and also highly degraded lands) should be evolved into a generalized system of farming for the farmers of similar means. Greenhouses for protected cultivation should be supported to supplement the incomes. The government will have to monitor caste-based atrocities and ensure land parcels to landless SC/ST labour.

15. The new government should stand against GM food crops until and if their safety has been established through unbiased, neutral, third party studies. It must legally recognise land rights, water rights, bio-resource rights, rights of rivers and abandon projects which include diversion of rivers for so-called interlinking of rivers to protect rights over common property resources. It must withdraw the sanction to pesticides that have been banned elsewhere.

16. The new government will undertake the agenda of health impact assessment of workers doing hazardous (e.g. pesticide spray) work in the case of agriculture and allied sectors. The government will have to announce a policy for the promotion of agro-ecological approaches in cultivation and farming systems being pursued in the state of Maharashtra, and revive local seed diversity, so that farmers can build economically viable, ecologically sustainable, autonomous and climate resilient agriculture.

Land rights

17. Vast areas of agricultural land and forest are being handed over for urban and industrial development without the required assessment of essentiality of SEZs, expressways and due diligence in respect of ecological, social and economic impacts of the neo-colonial type of land and water transfer from the villages to cities and metropolis promoting dependent import and export-oriented development. Land is the progenitor of food and water, a basic for human survival. The new government must enunciate a policy for the restoration of balance and revitalization of health of vital and diverse ecosystems in the state.

18. The new government must immediately stop land acquisition or land pooling without informed consent of farmers; there can be no acquisition or diversion of agricultural land for commercial development or for creation of land banks; it must prevent the bypassing or dilution of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, at the state level; and evolve land use and agricultural land and common lands protection policy at once to prevent agrarian distress.

Reviewing hydropower and green energy projects and assessing potential vulnerabilities 

19. Massive expansion of pumped storage based in hydropower projects is being planned in the entire western ghat areas of Maharashtra. This would entail construction of new reservoirs either upstream or downstream of the existing reservoirs and can be destructive to the fragile western ghat ecosystem and the lives and livelihoods of people living in these areas. We demand that the new government immediately announce stopping of the projects planned to benefit Adani Green Power. These projects must be reviewed and sanctioned on a case by case basis for any further steps. The new government will have to assess the costs and vulnerabilities of the green energy projects and explore the alternatives for storage and decide how much of pumped storage should be built.

20. The new government should prevent unscientific and undemocratic use of common property resources for green energy projects such as solar panel parks and pump storage. We urgently need a democratic and scientific land and water use policy. The unmet real needs of ecological infrastructure for food, water security and sustainable livelihoods must be prioritized if Maharashtra’s people as a whole are to survive democratically even in the near future. The Shaktipeeth Highway project should be fully scrapped.

Reimplementation of 2015 GR on PDS benefits for families affected by farmers’ suicides 

21. The new government will have to delink benefits of state or central government schemes for agriculture and allied sectors, crop insurance or farm subsidies from land ownership. It must implement the Government Resolution dated June 18, 2019, announced by the state revenue department for women from suicide-hit farm families. That 2015 GR promised public distribution (PDS) benefits for families in 13 districts affected by farmers’ suicides. This GR was cancelled in 2023. We demand immediate restoration of implementation of this GR.

Centre intervention in providing the mandatory medical, life insurance, and loan cover policy for farmers 

22. There must be a complete overhaul of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Several states have already set up their own, or hybrid schemes (like Gujarat). Insurance in this sector must be run by public providers and not by corporate insurance providers who have milked thousands of crores from the scheme – with little benefit to the farmer. The latest of these scandals is the loot of farmers in Parbhani district. In fact, corporate insurers routinely dismiss lakhs of claims across the country. We demand medical and life insurance cover to all farmers premium of which should be paid by government. Besides, compulsory loan cover policy should be there for all farmers for which the government should pay premium.

Timely crop and livestock compensation due to natural calamities

23. The new government must ensure timely, effective and adequate compensation for crop and livestock loss due to natural disasters; implement comprehensive crop insurance that benefits farmers and not corporations, and which will cover all types of risks for all types of losses in agriculture with the individual farmer as the unit of damage assessment. The new government must reverse anti-farmer changes in the Manual for Drought Management.

24. Agriculture in Maharashtra is increasingly impacted by climate change. The new government must move swiftly to protect the health and safety of farmers and farm workers. For instance, enable the creation of dug out shelters on every farm. This past summer, farm labourers were toiling in temperatures of 45 C and worse. We also demand creation of common storage and shelters to help small farmers and agricultural workers cope with the coming heat waves. Public investment in the management of rainfall and irrigation water to ensure availability of critical moisture for cultivation and livestock rearing and for meeting drinking water needs is a must. The new government must take the required steps to provide protective irrigation through sustainable means for farmers, especially in the rain-fed areas.

To benefit the women farmers the MNREGA wages to not be less than the statewide announced minimum wage

25. The performance of the state in terms of providing work under the MNREGA has moved from poor to dismal. The result is a deepening of agrarian distress. The new government must commit to expanding and deepening the wage rate and number of workdays available to rural households. The wage in MGNREGA should under no circumstances be less than the statewide announced minimum wage. Beyond the MNREGA, landless labourers desperately need other sources of sustenance and support. These would particularly foreground the rights of women landless labourers to small plots of land enabling them to engage in livestock rearing, poultry and kitchen gardens. They must have priority in access to common lands. Women farmers, landed or landless, are in a terrible situation in Maharashtra. The above measures would include full and equal rights of landless farmers to common assets, like water resources, including access to community wells, tubewells, and more. All these above rights would particularly focus on Dalits and Adivasis.

Robust employment and pension schemes

26. We demand a minimum of Rs. 5000/-as pension per month per family of farmer. We demand free education at all schools/colleges/universities for farmer’s children. There should be a policy for reservation of vacancies in agriculture-based industries for farmers’ children. Hostel facilities for farmers’ children should be ensured at taluka and district level for all the relevant places in Maharashtra. The new government must commit to immediately launching a robust pension scheme for small and marginal farmers and agricultural workers. It needs to also rejuvenate and make robust the crumbling public distribution system. The new government will have to ensure remunerative guaranteed prices for milk and eggs and its procurement from dairies and poultry to supplement nutritional security through Mid Day Meal Scheme and Integrated Child Development Scheme etc.

27. The new government must introduce a new “Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme” with focus on meeting local milk needs and allowing land use for livestock rearing, waste to wealth, municipal food forests, vegetable gardens, home gardens etc, The new government will have to prepare a 5 year plan for credit with involvement of farmer organisations, urban agriculture producers and local bodies to support a systematic development of rural and urban agriculture.

Leveraging the role of NABARD, cooperative and public sector banks to evolve bankable models of integrated farming practices.

28. Mumbai being the headquarters of institutions like NABARD and the financial capital of India, the new government must leverage  its strength to oppose any dilution of apex DFI status of NABARD and ensure that the flow of NABARD concessionary funds are strengthened in the interest of landless, small, marginal farmers and development of people centric cooperative banking in India in general and Maharashtra in particular.

29. The new government will have to take the responsibility of evolving at least 100 bankable models of Integrated farming and processing of farm products to support agro-ecological approaches in the state of Maharashtra. Marketing support by Govt should be part of the plan. The new government will have to ensure an increase in rural branches of banks and increase staff strength to support the holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors.

30. Public sector Banks (PSBs) should not be privatized to protect the interests of the farmers, and their governing boards should have the representatives of organizations of small and marginal farmers. In the state of Maharashtra, credit deposit ratio should be at least 80% for every branch and every block. The new government will have to stop the banks from collecting bank charges from small depositors. The new government will have to constitute a committee for agricultural and rural credit and recommend steps to remove regional imbalances in banking. The new government will have to give representation to the farmers on state level bankers committee at State level, District level, and block level.

31. Any digital database of farmers being created should be inclusive, and not be limited to land owning farmers. All farmers (as defined by the census, Swaminathan commission, and Doubling Farmers Income committee) should receive benefits of all government schemes for agriculture. The methodology to create such an inclusive database can be announced by taking the best from the process followed by the Governments of Odisha and other such states where the rights of tenant farmers, women farmers and dalit farmers have been recognised.

32. The new Maharashtra government should abandon the Aadhaar Number Database and related National Population Register, the Farmers digital ID-based Database, and resist these and databases like AGRISTACK being handed over to private corporates It must stop biometric profiling based land-titling, and hand over control of data on land and cultivation for open and transparent policy-making and data use by farmers and state, district and village governments. The government must universalize benefits of the Public Distribution System including cereals and nutria-cereals, pulses, sugar and oils without linking it to Aadhaar Number, or biometric identification, and without shifting to direct cash transfer.

33. The new government will have to address the menace of stray animals by removing all legal and vigilante-imposed restrictions on cattle trade, also compensating farmers for the destruction occurring through the invasion of crops by wild animals and supporting proactively animal shelters. There is an urgent need to encourage biomass-based infrastructure development.

34. The new government will announce the review of projects sanctioned in the case of foreign direct investment on open general license by the central government to carry out due diligence on the front of ecological, economic and social impacts, and take up with the central government the issue of removing agriculture from FTAs and WTO negotiations.

35. The new government will have to protect the farmers from corporate plunder in the name of contract farming by reviewing the Contract Farming Act 2018. It must bring a white paper on Farmer Producer Organizations and stop corporatization of agriculture and takeover by MNCs. The new government must stop permission to collect any further data from the farmers of Maharashtra by corporates like ITC, Agribazaar, Amazon, CISCO, ESRI, JIO, Microsoft, NeML, Ninjacart, Digital Green and Partanjali.

36. The policy of no to corporate control in agricultural R&D and innovation domain will have to be implemented in the case of SAUs. R&D and innovation directions will have to be supported by the new government to promote agroecological approaches & biomass based industrialization.

37. The newly launched Shetkari Kamgar / Agrarian Welfare Commission would have to immediately address the dismal conditions of power supply and irrigation in the farm sector. It must begin by ending the loot of these sectors in Maharashtra.

38. The above measures would go way beyond rural benefit to also lessen the pressure in the urban migration crisis of the state. This nature of public investment will have a multiplier effect across Maharashtra. All the above measures would create jobs, regenerate natural resources, enhance well-being, and add to agricultural productivity.

It’s worth remembering that our treatment of farmers, both in Maharashtra and across India stands now for decades in violation of the rights guaranteed to them under the Constitution of India. Fundamentally, the Indian Constitution, through Articles 14, 15 and 19 in Chapter IIII guarantees the Right to Life, Equality before the Law, Life without Discrimination to all Indians, including obviously to every farmer and all peoples working in Rural India. Besides, the Directive Principles of State Policy in Chapter IV guarantee adequate means of livelihood, equitable distribution of material resources, prevention of concentration of wealth all of which assert that Farmer and Rural Workers Rights are Human Rights. Can anyone claim that farmers are in reality enjoying these rights?

And yet, it was the Kisan andolan at the gates of Delhi that defended these rights for all citizens, indeed defended the Constitution itself. It is now our turn to defend these rights for the kisan and mazdoor.

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The post M’tra farmers demand MSP for cash crops like cotton, soybean and sugarcane with 20 % bonus like Tamil Nadu & Kerala: Kisan Manifesto appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The front page of Maharashtra’s largest circulating daily Loksatta is full of detailed reports of the tragic losses to crops in the Vidharba and Marathwada regions of the state, caused by unseasonal rains and hailstorms. Some English newspapers have also reported the losses, caused by first acute drought and now unseasonal rains and hailstorms; there is an uncanny silence from the state and central governments.

On April 12, a detailed report by Loksatta detailed how these unseasonal rains have hit the whole of Vidarbha including the sub-capital, Nagour and wreaked havoc. Due to strong winds of high velocity accompanied by hailstones, crops on 50,000 hectares of land have been damaged in Yavatmal, Akola, Amravati, Buldhana districts. A woman labourer even reportedly died due to lightning. After these unseasonal rains that lasted till Sunday, farmers in the region face an acute crisis all summer. The worst-affected places are Washim, Amravati, Jalna, Sambhaji Nagar, and Beed. In these regions of the state, crops such as maize, onions, fruits, and vegetables are grown.

Since April 8, it was sections of eastern Vidarbha, such as Nagpur and Wardha, as well as the western regions of Vidarbha that have witnessed intense rainfall and hailstorms. In Marathwada, the unexpected rain has affected all eight districts.

Thereafter, since April 10, Nagpur, Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Washim, Yavatmal districts are experiencing heavy rain with strong gales and hailstorms. Nagpur city received gusty wind and unseasonal rain for two days. In other districts, the rain accompanied by gale force winds and hailstones has destroyed the grass of the farmer. Most of the damage has been caused in the Amravati district.

Thirteen constituencies, of which all are in the Vidarbha area, will vote in the first two phases of the upcoming Lok Sabha election. The majority of voters in these constituencies are engaged mostly in agriculture. Therefore, the discontent among farmers may turn into a negative issue for the ruling Mahayuti government, consisting of the NCP, BJP, and Shiv Sena.

About 35,389 hectares of Rabi Crops and orchards have been hit by rain and hail. Chandurbazar, Morshi, Varud and Achalpur suffered the most damage in four taluks. Oranges, mangoes, bananas, mangoes grown on 18,300 hectares have been damaged. Crops on 4,060 hectares in 74 villages of Akola district have also been destroyed. Most of the damage has occurred in the Patur taluka. About three and a half thousand hectares of crops in 100 villages were also damaged in Buldhana district. Crops on 2,000 over one-and-a-half villages in Yavatmal district were damaged by rain. In Kelapur taluka, most of the crops on 780 hectares were destroyed. Fruit orchards have also been adversely hit.

Woman died; many animals died

A woman labourer working at a brick kiln on the Arni-Savli Road in Yavatmal district was killed by lightning. Three people were seriously injured.

Two bulls were also killed due to lightning. The roofs of many houses were blown off due to heavy rain and more than five hundred houses were damaged. Around 55 houses were damaged in Akola district. More than three hundred houses collapsed in Buldhana district. 13 animals died due to lightning and had to be buried under trees. Three people were seriously injured due to lightning in Sangrampur taluk.

Rabi crops have been damaged by unseasonal rain and hailstorm in Vidarbha. Beed, Parbhani, Hingoli districts of Marathwada were also damaged by hail on Thursday.

Rain lashed the region until April 12.

Political observers believe that while farmers anticipate prompt help from the state government, the natural disaster during the approaching Lok Sabha election has presented an unanticipated challenge for the ruling BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP alliance. An assessment of the issue is currently being conducted by Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Speaking with the district collectors, CM Eknath Shinde has reportedly assessed the circumstances and asked the administration to work quickly to provide the farmers with the assistance they need at this time. CM Eknath Shinde also asked Iqbal Singh Chahal, the chief minister’s office’s additional chief secretary, to seek the Indian Election Commission to exempt relief measures from the code of conduct.

In order to evaluate the crop losses, Munde visited a number of Marathwada villages and spoke with local farmers. Vegetable and fruit crops have been severely impacted in Marathwada. He said he ordered the administration to finish the survey in order to submit the crop loss report. Farmers who have insured their crops had to submit crop loss reports to the relevant insurance providers, he added.

Indian Express and Hindustan Times have both consistently reported since January -February 2024, three months ago, how the area in Maharashtra to be declared drought-affected has risen to 73 per cent. In November 2023, , the Maharashtra government had announced a drought in 229 tehsils, which has 1,290 circles. With the decision from the sub-committee, a total of 1,510 circles out of 2,068 are now drought-affected, covering more than 73 per cent of the state.

While the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) will be used for relief and rehabilitation in 40 tehsils (269 circles) announced in October 2023, the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) will be used for the newly added drought-affected region. “Different parts of the state are facing a difficult situation. There are issues related to the availability of water and fodder. The government will ensure aid is received by all,” said Maharashtra Relief and Rehabilitation minister Anil Patil. Under the present revenue administration, each district is divided into subdivisions for administrative convenience. Each division may consist of 4 to 5 talukas. These talukas are further subdivided into revenue circles and each circle has around six to eight villages, reported Indian Express.

On the basis of this, 220 new circles without rain gauge machines were included in the list of drought-affected areas. The areas will now receive benefits such as restructuring of crop loans, concessions in revenue, stays on the recovery of farm loans, 33.5 per cent concession on the present power bills of agricultural pumps, exam fee waivers for school and college students, concessions in norms for employment guarantee scheme, availability of water tankers and a guarantee that agri pumps won’t be disconnected due to non-payment of bills.

In 2018, drought was declared in 151 tehsils initially. Later 268 circles were included in the list. It was done after a number of elected representatives complained about their respective areas being ignored. Similarly in 2023, opposition MLAs had criticised the state government for including only areas under ruling MLAs and ignoring the opposition’s constituencies.

Meanwhile other reports indicate abnormal weather conditions also in the north with Punjab and Haryana reporting abnormally cold temperatures at the height of summer. Bathinda was the coldest in Punjab recording a low of 4.4 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season’s average, according to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) weather bulletin. The minimum temperatures of Ludhiana and Patiala were 8.1 degrees Celsius and 7.3 degrees Celsius, up to two degrees below the normal, the bulletin showed.

In Haryana, Hisar was the coldest with a low of 5.3 degrees Celsius, four notches below the normal, the bulletin showed. Ambala recorded its minimum at 9.1 degrees Celsius, it added.

(With PTI inputs)

The post Unseasonal rains and hailstorms ruin acres of crops in Maharashtra, cause agrarian distress in Vidharba & Marathwada appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Former CPI (M) MLA and farmer leader from Surgana Jiva Pandu Gavit said the agitation of farmers and tribals from Nashik would continue at the location since the talks in Mumbai on Tuesday failed to yield any positive results.

State revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil led a team of four ministers and government officials who had a three-hour long meeting with Gavit’s CPI(M) delegation. The other three ministers included Nashik guardian minister Dada Bhuse, tribal welfare minister Vijay Kumar Gavit and state forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.

Speaking to TOI, Gavit said, “We discussed our various demands with the four ministers, but no decision was taken. We will continue our strike till our petitions are accepted.”

Among the major demands of the tribals and farmers include giving ownership of forest land to tribal farmers who have been tilling the land for the last many years, introduction of minimum support price of Rs. 2,000 per quintal for onions and withdrawal of ban on onion export as also other several wants related to tribals.

State government officials present at the deliberations said the ministers assured the delegation that the government had taken cognizance of the demands and all steps would be taken to resolve it in a time-bound manner.

The newspaper also reported that government sources said Vikhe-Patil advised Nashik district collector Jalaj Sharma, who was also present, to immediately address the issue raised by the delegation about reduction of land size that was given to tribals under Forest Rights Act.

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Maharashtra farmers announce Mahapanchayat on Nov 28

The post Maharashtra: Farmer leader Gavit says no outcome of meet in Mantralaya appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Over 100 farmer organisations in Maharashtra will gather for a state-wide Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai on November 28, 2021 to mark the completion of one year of farmers’ protest at Delhi borders.

Under the banner of the Samyukta Shetkari Kamgar Morcha (SSKM), farmers will reiterate demands to withdraw the three farm laws – the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Act, the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act – apart from the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021, and the three labour codes. They are also demanding a legal guarantee to Minimum Support Price (MSP), halving the price of diesel, petrol and cooking gas, and protesting the privatisation of India’s PSUs.

Following meetings, the SSKM decided that Thane-Palghar district will mobilise over 20,000 peasants and Nashik district will mobilise over 15,000 peasants for the Mahapanchayat. Trade unions and students organisations like the DYFI, SFI and the Teachers Front will also participate in the event along with national leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) coalition. Overall, the SSKM estimates over 60,000 people to gather in Mumbai.

A day prior to the Mahapanchayat, all Lakhimpur Kheri martyr kalash yatras will arrive in the city on November 27. Martyrs’ ashes will be immersed in the Arabian sea at the Gateway of India the following evening.

“All these decisions were taken in two joint meetings of the SSKM, the first at Pune on October 27 and the second at Mumbai on November 3, which were chaired by AIKS National President Dr Ashok Dhawale,” said the SSKM in a press release.

The meetings were attended by leaders like Medha Patkar, Pratibha Shinde, Namdev Gavade, Milind Ranade, Kisan Gujar, Dr Ajit Nawale, Dr S K Rege, Shailendra Kamble, Vidya Chavan, ex-MLC, S V Jadhav, Raju Korde, Kishor Dhamale, Subhash Kakuste, Ulka Mahajan, Subhash Ware, Aparna Dalvi, Vishwas Utagi, Feroze Mithiborwala, Poonam Kanojia and many others. They are part of platforms like All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), Trade Unions Joint Action Committee (TUJAC) and Jan Andolananchi Sangharsh Samiti (JASS).

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Maharashtra: Farmers Kalash Yatra begins

The post Maharashtra farmers announce Mahapanchayat on Nov 28 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Maharashtra’s farmers began a state-wide kalash yatra from Mahatma Jyotirao Phule’s house in Pune on October 27, 2021 to honour farmer martyrs who died in Lakhimpur Kheri recently.

In answer to farmers group Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) call for state-level Kalash Yatra or march carrying ashes of farmer martyrs, Maharashtra peasants charted an intricate circuit in the area. The procession will visit at least one district every day until November 18.

On Wednesday, around a thousand farmers started the procession after a joint meeting of farmer leaders at Hamal Bhawan in Pune.

On the final day, farmers will assemble at the Hutatma Chowk in Mumbai which commemorates the martyrdom of 106 workers and peasants of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement. The yatra will pay homage to other monuments of historical figures like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar – the architect of the Indian constitution – and martyr Babu Genu, who laid down his life while protesting the import of British cloth in India. The yatra will end with a peasant Mahapanchayat at Azad Maidan.

“During this time, all All-India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee [AIKSCC] organisations will organise their own independent kalash yatras in their spheres of influence in Maharashtra. Hundreds of public meetings and press conferences will be held in all districts,” said State General Secretary Ajit Nawale in a press release.

The yatra also honours the 650 martyrs of the ongoing farmers struggle that will soon complete a year of protest at Delhi borders. Members reinforce SKM demands to immediately dismiss and arrest Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra for allegedly causing the murder of Lakhimpur Kheri farmers.

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What’s the damage?

After the wettest June-September monsoon season in 25 years, cyclonic disturbances in the Arabian Sea led to post-monsoon rain as it came towards the state of Maharashtra and withdrew towards the end of October. Most parts of Maharashtra received rainfall over 100%, and the State cumulatively recorded more than 112% precipitation.

Reuters reported that the excessive rain during monsoon ruined summer-sown (kharif) crops such as soybean, cotton, maize, jowar, bajra, and rice from flood damage, the heavy rains in October and November have brought more misery to India’s farmers by delaying winter-sowing of (rabi) crops like wheat, chickpeas, vegetables.

Maharashtra state administration pegged the damage caused by the unseasonal rain to standing crop covering 88.74 lakh hectares of farmland across the state. The Indian Express reported that from a look into official panchnamas to assess the extent of the damage nearing completion, sources stated that the untimely rain has inflicted losses on nearly 1 crore farmers. The heavy downpours also elevated prices of produce such onions, soyabean, maize and tomatoes and lifted food inflation to 7.89% in October from a year earlier.

The state has seen a large number of farmers commit suicide owing to the losses they experienced due to unseasonal changes.
 

State (in)action

Prior to following the Centre’s norms for calculating crop loss, the former Fadnavis government pegged the overall crop loss at ₹2,088 crore. But the Centre is yet to announce the compensation from its side. Later, a cabinet sub-committee under Fadnavis had agreed to set aside ₹10,000 crore for relief measures.

The Indian Express further reports that, while the Centre pays ₹6,800 per hectare for rainfed crops, parties have been demanding ₹25,000 per hectare for their losses. Similarly, even as the Centre’s relief norms approve ₹18,000 per hectare for irrigated area, the political parties have been demanding higher compensation.

Presently, the government is looking at a payout of ₹8,000 per hectare for all rain-damaged crop land in Maharashtra.
 

The Buck Stops At the Governor?

Since the state is under the President’s Rule, the decision as to the quantum of financial relief is in the hands of the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. As most parties have demanded that the farmers be compensated at a rate above what would be granted under the Centre’s norms, it is likely that the Governor will approach the Parliament to sanction supplementary grants to meet demanded relief amount.

The Indian Express reported a source admitting that the official panchnamas to assess the damage have been slow, and that the process is likely to be completed in the coming few days. In order to ensure swift clearance of administrative files, concerned departments have will be prioritising files regarding court matters, financial liabilities, and legislative matters. A proposal to transfer quasi-judicial powers of ministers to secretaries until government formation is under active consideration, it reported.
 

Demand to declare ‘wet drought’

Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha and parties such as Shiv Sena have demanded that a “wet drought” be declared in the state.

On November 14, 2019, Bacchu Kadu, Maharashtra’s MLA from Achalpur, Amravati led a protest march towards Raj Bhavan over farmers’ demands to declare Maharashtra as drought-hit. He, along with hundreds of workers of the Prahar Janshakti Party (PJP), was detained by the police at Nariman Point, while protesting over their demand. Mr Kadu said that they wanted Mr. Koshyari to proclaim financial assistance and a loan waiver for farmers.

Earlier, Parivartan Vikas Aghadi (PVA) and Shetkari Sanghatana had demanded that farmers in Yavatmal district be given compensation under the crop insurance scheme and Natural Calamity Act.

Ajit Navale, State Secretary of the Kisan Sabha, noted that crop-cutting experiments were conducted in order to assess damage for crop insurance before the unseasonal rains and this may result in affected farmers being excluded from insurance payouts.

In a statement to our team, Mr. Navale stated that the financial relief of ₹8000 per hectare presently being proposed by the Government would come down to about ₹80 per gunta (1089 square feet) of land. Such a measly amount won’t even cover the costs of removing the damaged crops and rank vegetation out of the affected land, he noted.

The Sabha has demanded a minimum of ₹25,000 per acre as relief for the rain-damaged crop land. Mr. Navale stated that the Kisan Sabha has planned to protest before the Commissionerate of Agriculture, Pune tomorrow, November 19 along with multiple, simultaneous tehsil-level protests all over Maharashtra on November 25.

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The post When It Rains, It Pours; But Maha Farmers Aren’t Giving Up appeared first on SabrangIndia.

There are however signs of panic in the circles of power with cases being filed against kisan leaders like Dr Ajit Nawale and reports of arrests coming in from Dhule, ostensibly to stall the Long March 2.0. With talks remaining inconclusive amidst allegations of apathy against the Fadnavis government, the AIKS plans to begin the march in Nashik on 20th February, entering Mumbai on the 27th of February. But today, activists like Kishore Dhamale and Subhash Kakuste, leading a group of farmers under the banner of Satyashodhak Shetkari Sangathana who had left Dhule to join the Long March were arrested. Reacting to the arrests, Prasad Subramanium, member of the AIKS, speaking to Sabrang said, “The farmers wont get intimidated by forceful tactics of the government, the farmers are resolved to take the Long March forward”. Talking about the sense of betrayal among farmers he said, “After last year’s long march the government had formed a committee with members of the AIKS in it to address the farmers’ distress. It has been almost a year, the govt has not even called for a single meeting of the committee, even after repeated agitations including a jail bharo last year”. According to him,pictures, news and videos from the farmer’s march would be updated on twitter under the hashtag #kisanmarchesagain.

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The post So that Mumbai Can Sleep & Our Kids Can Give Exams This Morning, Our Farmers Walked Through the Night appeared first on SabrangIndia.

More than 25 thousand farmers began the ‘Long March’ from Nasik to Mumbai yesterday under the leadership of All India Kisan Sabha.

This is a follow-up to protests and farmers’ agitations in the state of Maharashtra that started in 2016. Last year, after the massive Maharashtra bandh which went on for more than 11 days, the Fadnavis government had made certain commitments to the farmers which they have now turned their backs on.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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