After the protest seen by the farmers in Madhya Pradesh, agitation can be seen on the roads of Maharashtra also.
A committee, comprising representatives of various farmer groups, gave the ultimatum to heighten their protests across Maharashtra if their demands of a complete loan waiver, a guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their produce, and implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report, are not accepted by the state government by June 11.
Farmer leaders, including Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna (SSS) president, MP Raju Shetti, Raghunath Patil, MLA Bachhu Kadu, Maharashtra Kisan Sabha (MKS) members Ajit Navle and Raju Desale, participated in the meeting held on Thursday afternoon.
Raju Shetti stressed on the need to take farmers struggle to the national level. SSS is an ally of the BJP-led government in Maharashtra and Shetti had also led the “atmaklesh yatra” (repentance march) of farmers last month. He urged all opposition parties to come together and implement the Swaminathan Committee report, which made several recommendations for improvement in the situation of farmers in India.
Farmers in Maharashtra had launched the protest on 1 June, which has affected the supply of milk and vegetables in major urban centres including Mumbai. Maharashtra Kisan Sabha (MKS) members Ajit Navle said that, “If our demands are not met by June 11, farmers will resort to ‘thiyya andolan’ June 12 onwards. Farmers will start holding protests like rasta roko, rail roko across the state on June 13 onwards.” Addressing the meeting, Bacchu Kadu said farmers will not let ministers in Maharashtra address meetings in the state during the second stage of agitation if their demands are not met and threatened to take the agitation to national level.
However, the prices are going down of vegetables and fruits in Mumbai and some other cities with increased inflow of agricultural produce. Also, agricultural produce marketing committees (APMCs) in Nashik district have started receiving supply of vegetables and fruits from farmers.
The BJP Kisan Morcha announced its new team of office-bearers on Thursday and said it will continue to work for the interests of farmers across the country. The Morcha’s new team has eight vice-presidents, two general secretaries, eight secretaries and 50 executive members. Lok Sabha MPs Om Prakash Yadav, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Savitri Thakur are among its office bearers.