Maharashtra minister rushes to stop Nashik farmer march

NASHIK: Thousands of farmers, including tribals and landless peasants, gathered in the city from various parts of the state on Wednesday for the long march to Mumbai, but the state government initiated last-minute efforts to dissuade the organisers from undertaking the march. The organisers said the march would leave the city on Thursday at 8 am.
Water resources minister Girish Mahajan arrived here in the evening to hold talks with the leaders of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the march organiser."Farmers need not take out a march to Mumbai as the state had taken steps to tackle their woes on several fronts," Mahajan said on arrival.
The march, supposed to start from the city by 6 pm, was said to have been delayed as Mahajan wanted to have a dialogue with the AIKS leadership. The farmers are expected to reach Mumbai on Wednesday next week, when the Budget Session will be on at Vidhan Bhavan.
The AIKS leadership said it had received the minister's invitation to hold talks but said the march to highlight their problems would not be called off till the government took a firm decision on their demands.
AIKS state secretary Ajit Navle said that during the long march in March last year Mahajan had taken the initiative to negotiate between the government and the farmers but their demands were yet to be fulfilled. "We are determined go ahead with the march," he said.
He said the march would start from Nashik with 40,000 farmers and the number would swell to 80,000 by the time it reaches Mumbai on Wednesday next week. "Many more farmers are joining us, they were late because the police has obstructed them from reaching Nashik. The meeting with Mahajan will be a preliminary one and we will start walking from Thursday," Navale said.
The farmers, who will walk over 180 km, are led by 208 organisations. "The government had announced waiver of farm loans worth Rs 34,000 crore to the farmers, but in fact it disbursed only Rs 17,000 crore. Most farmers are yet to get waiver," AIKS president Ashok Dhavle said, adding that they wanted the waiver to apply to all farmers in the state.
He said farmers wanted the waters of the west-flowing rivers be diverted towards Marathwada and north Maharashtra. Their other demands include implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recom- mendations, and transfer of forest land to the cultivator under the Forest Rights Act.