Shinde hikes onion subsidy, farmers stay put

The decision was finalised in a meeting a day earlier between government officials and representatives of the long march, initiated by former Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA J P Gavit.

Shinde also announced the formation of a committee comprising Cabinet ministers, government officials and Gavit, along with current CPM MLA Vinod Nikole, to look into the problems related to the implementation of the Forest Rights Act in Maharashtra. The committee will give its report within one month.

An official statement from the Chief Minister’s Office stated that instructions have been given to all district administrations for immediate implementation of the decisions taken by the government, and Shinde appealed farmers to withdraw the long march.

Shinde said the farmers protest was non-political and contained genuine demands. “The demands raised by them are genuine and none of them are walking for personal gains. But the government is positive about the demands and they should withdraw the agitation now,” he said.

Gavit, however, said the march would continue till there is actual implementation of the decisions and assurances on the ground. Till then, the farmers will continue camping at Vasind village, he said.

Stating that they are not completely satisfied, Gavit said, “After the statement by the CM, he gave orders to the administration for immediate implementation. However, we have told him that till the orders given by him are not followed and implemented on ground, and we get feedback from the villagers about the same, till then we will not move from Vasind. Because there have been past experiences that despite government’s orders, there have been issues in implementation by the administration and hence till we get a report from the villagers about the implementation, we will not move from Vasind.”
Gavit said representatives of farmers have clearly told the CM that the farmers will stay in Vasind for a few more days till there is actual implementation of the orders, and if this doesn’t take place, they will head to Mumbai.

“We haven’t received the copy of the statement he has tabled in the Assembly yet. But they are going to send a copy by Saturday morning. We will discuss the assurance tabled in the House with farmers and if they are satisfied with it, then we will decide the future course of action on withdrawing the march,” said Gavit.

The farmers’ long march, led by the All India Kisan Sabha, halted at Vasind village in Shahapur Taluka of Thane district on Thursday evening after the farmers’ representatives got an assurance from the CM about all their demands being accepted.

The farmers have a total of 14 demands, including providing ex-gratia of Rs 500 per quintal to kharif onion, compensation for land acquisition, 12-hour electricity supply to farmers, 100% loan waiver and implementation of the Forest Rights Act, along with compensation for crop damage due to natural disaster.

However, even as Shinde said the government has taken a positive decision on the demands, the farmers expressed their unhappiness, stating that all demands have not been accepted.

Indrajeet Gavit, AIKS leader and son of J P Gavit, said,”We had demanded Rs 500 per quintal for onion but they have increased it only to Rs 350 from Rs 300. Also, the government has agreed to only providing 8-hour power supply as against the demand of 12-hour power supply. We have also not received a copy of the statement tabled by the CM in the Assembly. After reviewing the copy and checking the implementation of the assurances in the next two-three days, we will decide on moving from here. Till then, we will camp in Vasind.”
One of the 14 demands raised by the farmers’ protest march was to put the names of tillers on land records on forest lands up to four hectares. This will be among the issues that the state panel on Forest Rights Act will look into. The other issues to be discussed in the committee include encroachment of forest land, transferring land belonging to temple trusts and grazing grounds to farmers who cultivate the land.

The state government also accepted a demand to include tribals, who did not get benefits of farm loan waiver schemes announced in June 2017 and December 2019. The chief minister said the government has already announced an increase in the honorarium of anganwadi workers and ASHA workers in the budget presented last week, and an announcement on filling 20,000 vacant posts of Anganwadi workers will also be made.

“It has also been decided to make a law on giving ownership rights of temple land to those who make use of it and submit it to the Cabinet for approval,” the CMO release stated.