Jiva Pandu Gavit on Monday Interview: ‘Govt not only accepted most of our demands but has also begun implementing them… So we called off the march’

The 200-km-long march of farmers that started from Dindori in Nashik district to Mumbai was called off on Saturday. Does this mean the government has accepted all your demands? Are you satisfied with the assurances by the government?

The government had already accepted our demands during the discussion that was held on March 16. It had said it would announce it in the Assembly and bring it on record. That too was done by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. But we had put a condition that there has to be immediate implementation of our demands. We have seen in the past that governments accept the demands but they are not implemented on the ground. I had told the government that till orders are given at the administration level for implementation and execution begins on the ground, we will not move from Vasind (where the farmers were camping since March 16 while we were holding talks with the government).

The discussion took place on March 17 and on March 18, the implementation began on the ground. Collectors themselves started visiting villages and started the work. We got calls about it from villagers. We verified that the work has begun and hence post afternoon, we moved from Vasind and called off the March.

After Shinde made a statement, you said on Friday that farmers will stay in Vasind till Monday and only after receiving ground reports in two days, you will call off the march. What exactly happened that you called off the march on Saturday itself instead of Monday?

Our condition was that if there is no action on the ground by the government, then we will take the march towards Mumbai on Monday. The government also understood the seriousness of the issue.

But there was also the death of one of our farmers. Many farmers were also ill and the government was aware of this… they knew what will happen if we came to Mumbai. The government also understood the seriousness of it and started implementation on the ground so we called off the march.

What all demands were made to the government? How many of those were accepted?

We had a 14-point charter of demands including providing ex-gratia of Rs 600 per quintal to kharif onion, compensation for land acquisition, 12-hour electricity supply to farmers, 100 per cent loan waiver and implementation of the Forest Rights Act, along with compensation for damage due to natural calamity, putting the names of tillers on land records and forest land up to four hectares, among others.

Of these, almost 70 per cent demands have been accepted. For example, instead of Rs 600, the government has given ex-gratia of Rs 350 per quintal for kharif onion, formed a committee comprising Cabinet ministers and government officials along with current CPI(M) MLA Vinod Nikole and myself to look into the problems related to the implementation of the Forest Rights Act in Maharashtra. The committee will give its report within a month. The government has agreed to provide eight-hour power supply as against the demand for 12-hour power supply. It has also accepted our demand to include tribals, who did not get benefits of the 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 and ASHA workers in the Budget and an announcement on filling 20,000 vacant posts of anganwadi workers will also be made. The government had made provision for most of these demands in the Budget itself.

So in all, 70 per cent of the demands have been accepted by the government and placed on record. There are other demands, but for that sustained discussion with different departments are required. Some demands are also related to the central government and the state will have to coordinate with the Centre. The government has promised us that the demands concerned with the Union government will also be followed up by it.

What were the differences in the three marches you have led to Mumbai: in 2018, 2019 and now?

There is a difference in the demands made then and now. Then, we had very few demands and the most prominent ones were about the issue of forest land and old age pension scheme. In 2018, when we reached Azad Maidan, the government had given us assurance but it was not fulfilled. So we came back again in 2019, but that time nothing happened. So we came again this time. We couldn’t come earlier because of the Covid-19 situation in the state.

This time, our demands also included ones arising from the recent weather conditions. For example, the issue of onion prices was included in our demands along with farmers’ loan waivers, compensation for damaged crops, power supply to farmers, old pension scheme (OPS) and honororiums for anganwadi staffers.

Unlike the previous marches, the government has accepted almost all our demands and the rest will be sorted after holding discussions with the departments concerned and the Centre. Last time, nothing had happened but this time at least we are satisfied that the government positively accepted the demands and has also started implementation on the ground.

Will you come back again if there is no execution of the assurances?

We will see how it goes and then decide the future course of action