Thousands of farmers have started walking from Nashik to Mumbai. According to the information, their number is said to be around ten thousand. Most of these are from the tribal belt of Nashik district. These farmers started their ‘long march’ last Monday. The purpose of this walk is to make the government aware of the problems of farmers as well as other people. This yatra of farmers who came out in such large numbers with their demands can increase the tension of the Shinde government. A huge decline has been registered in the prices of onions in Maharashtra in the past, and the farmers want that the government should give a suitable relief amount to compensate for this loss.
All the farmers involved in the yatra gathered in Nashik under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha. This is the third such movement in Nashik after 2018. However, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis invited the organizers for talks at the office on Tuesday. But bypassing this, the farmers started their long walk from Mhasrul to Mumbai. Ajit Navale, general secretary of the Maharashtra unit of the All India Kisan Sabha, alleged that the government did not intend to provide relief to the farmers. He said, ‘Whenever onion prices have fallen, it has been the same old story. We have also been raising the issues of milk producers. But the government is only giving assurances. We have not got justice. Farmers will continue to put pressure on the government for justice. Our march is a step in that direction. We will reach Mumbai by 20 March.’
DL Karad, national vice president of CITU, said, “Farmers are not getting electricity. The Forest Rights Act (FRA) is not being implemented in letter and spirit. The government needs to be reminded about the problems of the tribals.” He said that it has been 18 years since the Forest Rights Act was approved. The tribals tilling the land have not yet got the land rights. Nothing happened despite the written assurance. Even the land records prepared so far under FRA have many lacunae.
Meanwhile, Nashik district collector Gangathran D had approached the organizers at Nimani bus stand with a request to withdraw the march. He spoke with the organizers. Even arranged a meeting between the organizers and District Guardian Minister Dada Bhuse. The collector said, ‘We gave him the message of the government. Even the foster minister has spoken to him. A meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday at 3 pm. But the march’s organizers were determined to continue with their march. He said the 15-member delegation would meet the CM and Deputy CM on Tuesday, but the morcha would continue.
The meeting between the organizers of the morcha and Bhuse on Sunday evening ended at 1 am on Monday. But the five-hour marathon meeting yielded no results. Sachin Gavit, a farmer from Surgana, was a part of the long march in 2018. He was ready for a long walk here again on Monday. Gavit said, ‘We cultivate up to 7 acres of forest land. The paper moved quickly after the first long march. But we, my father and his four brothers got only half an acre of land in Ayanal. The delay in FRA implementation has brought me here again.’
