Rahul reaches out to Vidarbha farmers, says Centre doing little to help them

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi at Babasaheb International Airport in Nagpur on Thursday. (Source: PTI)

Rahul Gqandhi on Thursday launched his ‘sanvad yatra’ from Gunji village in Maharashtra’s Amravati district to highlight farmers’ woes and the agrarian situation in the region. (Source: PTI)

He will be visiting five villages between Gunji to Ramgaon and will meet the farmers who have suffered crop losses due to unseasonal rain as also the families of those who have committed suicide over crop loss. (Source: PTI)

Nearly 171 farmers have committed suicide from 2006 to 2014 in Dhamangaon taluka of the district, the villagers informed the Congress leader.

The villagers alleged that “insurance companies were only selecting sample areas for giving compensation while the rest of the farmers were being deprived by them of the benefits due”. (Source: PTI)

The villagers also drew Rahul’s attention to the damage their soya crop has suffered in the unseasonal rainfall. Soyabean prices have crashed heavily due to the damages, another farmer said. (Source: PTI)

Some of them said that pesticides and fertilisers were being supplied to them at high prices even though the cost of production of such items was quite less. (Source: PTI)