Why Are Thousands of Farmers Protesting in Mumbai?

Plagued by crop failure & destruction, Maharashtra farmers say the government has been ignoring their plight.

A 25,000-strong rally of farmers will march from Maharashtra’s Thane to Mumbai.

(Photo: ANI Screengrab)

Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj

Over 30,000 farmers marched to Mumbai, on 12 March, Monday, to demand a complete loan waiver and the implementation of the MS Swaminathanan Commission recommendations to safeguard farmers’ rights.

The march is being spearheaded by the Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha (AIKS), a peasants’ front of CPI(M) that works for farmers’ rights.

The farmers who commenced their 180-km-long march on Tuesday from Central Nashik, plan to gherao Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha on reaching Mumbai, although it has been reported that they will not be allowed to march beyond Azad Maidan.

What Are Their Demands

Complete Waiver of Loans and Electricity Bills

One of their primary demands is a complete waiver of loans and electricity bills.

In 2017, the Maharashtra government had announced a conditional loan waiver of Rs 4,000 crores to 8.9 million farmers under the first phase of the farm loan waiver scheme after farmers held a 10-day long protest.

Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao had also told a joint session that the government transferred more than Rs 12,000 crore in the bank accounts of more than 3.1 million farmers under the loan waiver scheme, LiveMint reported.

But the Fadnavis government has been under attack for not being able to honour assurances of the farm loan waiver

Remunerative Prices for Crops

They also want Minimum Support Prices for crops to be fixed as per the Swaminathan Commission recommendations according to which they are required to be paid one-and-a-half times the cost of production.

Transfer of Forest Lands

They have also demanded the implementation of PESA [Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996] that is the transfer of forest land to those tilling it for years.

Other Demands

• Prevent diversion of prime agricultural land and forest to corporate sector for non-agricultural purposes.
• Ensure grazing rights and seasonal access to forests to tribals and pastoralists, and access to common property resources.
• Establish a National Land Use Advisory Service, which would have the capacity to link land use decisions with ecological meteorological and marketing factors on a location and season specific basis.
• Set up a mechanism to regulate the sale of agricultural land, based on the quantum of land, nature of proposed use and category of buyer.

(Source: PRS Legislative)

According to All India Kisan Sabha National President Dr Ashok Dhawle, neither the state nor the Central government have been paying attention to farmers’ issues in Maharashtra. He claims that farmers in the state have not benefitted from policy announcements made by the two sets of governments.

In fact, out of all the announcements made and all the assurances given, not a single one of them have been kept. Last year, there was a historic farmer strike that went on for 11 days in June 2017. The government at the end of it promised to give complete loans waivers to the farmers of Maharashtra. After that, they applied so many conditions that hardly 10-15 percent of farmers would get the benefit of loan waivers.

Dr Ashok Dhawle, National President, AIKS

“We want the state government to refrain from forceful acquisition of farm lands in the name of development projects like the super highway and tracks for bullet trains,” Raju Desle of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) told NDTV.