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Amid blistering heat, about 40,000 farmers and tribals held a peaceful demonstration at Azad Maidan here on Monday, demanding complete loan waiver and implementation of the Forest Rights Act.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met a delegation of farmers leaders and in principle agreed to their demands. The State government has decided to appoint a six-member committee to look into the farmers’ demands.
Land rights
Maharashtra’s Tribal Development Minister Vishnu Savara told media persons that one of the main demands had been that tribal farmers should be given ownership rights over land which are being cultivated on for many years. This demand has been accepted by the government. The Chief Secretary will keep track of the matter and the implementation will commence in six months, he said.
Some of the farmers and other participants had walked over 200 km from Nashik under the cruel sun for the last six days. The farmers and tribals were lead by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) of the CPI(M).
Dhaku Gavhe, a 65-year-old tribal from Thane, said that in spite of his advanced age and health issues he had walked 100 km so that his grandchildren would have rights over the farmland which he was cultivating for the past 40 years. Showing the deep craggy soles of his feet, Gavhe said that this was his “last battle” to get land ownership for his family.
A huge number of participants in the protests march were tribals, demanding the implementation of the Forest Land Rights Act, 2006, so that land is registered in their names. This would provide them with access to institutional credit from banks and credit societies.
All India President of the AIKS, Ashok Dhawale, in an earlier interaction with BusinessLine , had said that the march of the downtrodden was for getting a complete waiver of their farms loans and tribal lands rights.
The farmers also want the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission Report, which has recommended that the selling price of farm produce be based on 1.5 times the production cost.
They also should not be losing out to “fancy” projects such as the bullet train and Nagpur-Mumbai super expressway.
Veteran political analyst Neelkant Damle said the problems of the farmers and tribals have been festering for decades but none of the political parties has any long-term solutions. Nobody has a solution, including the communist parties, because the solution is based on surplus capital, which is very limited in the country.
Mumbaikars pitch in
Meanwhile, Mumbaikars hits the streets to help the protesting farmers and tribals with food, water, footwear and medical aid.
Subhash Talekar, spokesperson of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association, told BusinessLine the association decided to help the farmers since the latter are the anna-daata ( provider of food) to the whole population. It is out of a sense of solidarity that the dabbawalas helped the farmers, he said.
Dabbawalas’ gesture
The dabbawalas made personal contributions to provide pav-bhajis to about 600 farmers. Using the Mumbai Roti-Bank, which is a van collecting excess food from eateries and hotels, another 400 were fed. “Our resources are limited but our hearts are big,” he said.
Various opposition parties and the Shiv Sena came out in support of the protesters.
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