Shubhangi Khapre

According to the APMC union, there are 6,877 permanent workers, who are candidates recruited through a process and interview and then assigned specific tasks.

Since power supply in rural areas is irregular, farmers are forced to work on their fields at night, and this has remained unaddressed for several decades now. Load shedding during the day is common.

The ruling alliance's decision two months ago to relocate the proposed carshed to Kanjurmarg salt pan, and the subsequent impasse over the ownership of the land has put the party and the alliance on the back foot.

The Congress and NCP, which wield sizeable clout in the APMCs, fear taking an extreme step like making violation of MSP a criminal offence would invite backlash. Another aspect they believe is, agriculture sector cannot function within a fixed framework.

He added that the three laws are not going to help small and marginal farmers. “The laws favour the big marts. Corporate houses and industrialists will capture the entire agriculture sector.”

A power tussle is simmering within the state unit of the BJP ahead of the Maharashtra State Legislative Council Teacher and Graduate constituency polls, scheduled to be held on December 1.

MSS founder leader and president Puroshattam Khedekar told The Indian Express, "We feel Constitutional, legal, logical, final and only solution for Maratha reservation is their inclusion in present OBC state list and within 52 per cent quota, the maximum permissible within state power."

As he awaits his discharge from a government-run hospital in Mumbai, Devendra Fadnavis says he has been sticking to a strict diet and following all other Covid protocol.

The biggest setback to the party will be in terms of huge image beating. Khadse’s association with the BJP goes way back to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), a forerunner of the BJP.

Khadse has been sulking since he was made to resign as a minister in the then Fadnavis-led BJP government in 2016 on allegations of corruption.

The 78 per cent small and marginal farmers in Maharashtra, whose land holdings are mostly not in excess of two hectares, are unlikely to explore distant markets if APMCs provide them MSP, said a farmer.

The government guarantee is only for cooperative sugar mills. Ninety out of the 180 sugar mills that are currently functional in Maharashtra are cooperatives; the rest are privately owned.

Dhangars, a shepherd community, make up nine per cent of the state’s population. Dhangars have a sizable presence in western Maharashtra, part of north Maharashtra and Marathwada region.

The irrigation department’s request for higher allocation of funds for the project has not been accepted. In the two-day monsoon session, supplementary demands failed to accommodate the financial demand for the project.

The BJP's posturing on both the Rajput suicide and the Ranaut vs Sena spat appears to be targeted at whipping up the North Indian identities of the two actors ahead of the Bihar Assembly election, while sullying the image of its estranged ally in Maharashtra.

The Marathas are a politically dominant community who make up 32% of Maharashtra's population. They have historically been identified as a ‘warrior’ caste with large landholdings.

State Water Conservation Minister Sandipan Bhumre’s decision to rely on irrigation well follows a growing demand in the rural belt, especially from backward regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada. It will, however, be implemented throughout all water-crisis hit talukas in the state.

Considering the lack of time available for setting question papers, the Governor asked the universities to coordinate with Savitribai Phule Pune University, University of Mumbai and others to prepare question banks.

The Maharashtra BJP unit has launched an agitation to demand the reopening of all temples across the state. They are calling it the 'ghanta naad (tolling of the bells) andolan'.

Dairy farmers are demanding a higher price for milk as they are suffering loss due to depleting demand during the lockdown. The farmers want a minimum base price to increase from the present Rs 15 per litre to Rs 27 per litre.

"The financial condition across the rural belt is worrying. Farmers are worst affected as they don't have cash. The fall in farm produce prices in last four months has wrecked their lives," said Shetkari Sanghatana president Anil Ghanwat.

Unfortunately, the country has not understood Dr BR Ambedkar. He had envisaged reservation for SC/STs in Lok Sabha and state Assembly constituencies for just 10 years. The objective was to bring the Dalits and tribal people into the electoral process and help them exercise their democratic rights

Prices paid to dairy farmers have fallen steeply from Rs 25 per litre to Rs 15-16. Milk collection centres, both private and cooperatives, are not ready to pay the expected price.

Kirit Somaiya said the decision to expose what he called the administration’s “lapses” in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic was “part of my public commitment as a BJP worker”.