Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | New government must waive off farm loans of suicide-affected families: Farmers manifesto

Mumbai: The new government must give remunerative prices to all crops, address land rights issues, ensure that water is not privatised and must waive off all outstanding agricultural loans of farmers from suicide-affected families, according to farmers’ manifesto for Maharashtra being pressed by Kisan Mazdoor Commission (KMC) and Nation for Farmers (NOF).

“The new government must waive off all outstanding agricultural loans of farmers from suicide-affected families and provide appropriate opportunities to children of all such families,” the KMC and NOF said.

It requested setting up of a Shetkari Kamgar Commission or Agrarian Welfare Commission. “It will be a statutory body and comprise not just government officials but eminent independent experts on the agrarian sector. Any new, incoming government must commit to a special session of the Assembly on the agrarian crisis and related issues,” according to a press statement.

"A new government must commit itself to supplementing the existing and totally inadequate Minimum Support Price for cash crops like cotton, soybean and sugarcane in Maharashtra with a 20 per cent bonus. The State should intervene more strongly in the purchase of soya bean and cotton to stabilise the incomes of farmers of Maharashtra,” it said.

The new government must stop the uprooting of Adivasi farmers in the name of compensatory afforestation and ensure strict implementation without dilution of Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and Forest Rights Act, 2006, it added.

According to the KMC and NOF statement, remunerative prices must be given for all crops including millets, pulses, vegetables, and fruits, milk and other such identifiable produce so that farmers of Maharashtra can move to a developed cropping system while reducing the water footprint.

They also demanded a minimum of Rs 5,000 as pension per month per family of farmers. “We demand free education at all schools/colleges/universities for farmers' children. There should be a policy for reservation of vacancies in agriculture-based industries for farmers’ children. Hostel facilities for farmers’ children should be ensured at taluka and district level for all the relevant places in Maharashtra,” they demanded.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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