Farmers call off long march to Mumbai after govt starts ‘working on their demands

PTI

Mumbai, March 18

Protesting farmers and tribals, who were on their way to Mumbai from Nashik district of Maharashtra, called off their long march on Saturday with their demands being taken into consideration in the state legislature and ground-level officials receiving orders to execute the government’s orders, a CPI(M) MLA said.

The march had started from Dindori town, located 195 km away from Mumbai, on March 12 demanding relief of Rs 600 per quintal to onion growers hit by price crash, 12-hour uninterrupted power supply to farmers, and waiver of farm loans. They had reached Thane district’s Vasind town, around 80 km from Mumbai.

On Friday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told the Assembly that onion cultivators will be given a financial relief of Rs 350 a quintal and appealed to them to call off the protest.

“Our demands have been met. All the demands by the farmers were taken into consideration in the state legislature and collectors and tehsildars have been issued orders. We received calls from our activists that work (implementation of the government order) has begun. So we have decided to call off the march,” Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA Vinod Nikole said.

He said the participants have started heading back to their homes, and the remaining people will leave by Saturday evening or Sunday.

Meanwhile, a 58-year-old participant in the long march died on Friday.

The deceased Pundalik Ambo Jadhav was a resident of a village near Dindori in Nashik. “After having dinner around 8 pm, Jadhav vomited and again started feeling uneasy. He was rushed to the Shahapur hospital where doctors declared him brought dead,” an official said on Saturday.

The Maharashtra government had on Friday accepted most of the demands of farmers.

CM Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, ministers and top government officials had held talks with the farmers’ representatives to resolve the issue on Thursday.

Shinde had also informed the House that he had held discussions with a farmers’ delegation on 14 points, including forest rights, encroachment of forest land, transfer of land belonging to temple trusts and grazing grounds to cultivators for farming.

He had said a cabinet sub-committee will be set up to monitor appeals and claims related to the demand for forest land up to four hectares in possession of cultivators. The panel will prepare a report in a month.

The committee will monitor the pending claims of farmers under the Forest Rights Act, the chief minister said, adding former MLA Jeeva Pandu Gavit and legislator Vinod Nikole, both belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), will be members of the committee.