Mumbai: A day after farmer organisations threatened to intensify protests if their demands weren’t met, the State government on Friday formed a high powered ministerial group to hold discussions with farmers, their representatives, agriculture experts and journalists covering the sector. The ministerial group will be chaired by Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil.
Farmer groups have called it a positive step, and a decision on holding talks with the government committee will be taken at a steering committee meeting in Mumbai on Saturday.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has been at the receiving end for his statements claiming the government would hold talks only with farmers and not with political leaders. Mr. Patil said the group of ministers will decide eligibility criteria and procedures for waiving off of loans. “The money will be deposited into the bank accounts of the farmers by October 31, 2017,” he said.
The group includes Finance Minister Sudhir Munguntiwar, Agriculture Minister Pandurang Fundkar, Cooperation Minister Subhash Deshmukh, Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan and Transport Minister Divakar Raote. Mr. Raote is the only Sena minister in this group. His inclusion comes after a Sena boycott of the State Cbinet meeting, claiming the government should take them in confidence before going ahead with plans for farm loan waivers.
Mr. Patil added, “We are inviting everyone including members of the coordination committee. The committee will also speak to a youth named Narendra Ladkat from Pune, who repeatedly sent messages to me and suggested various ideas. I also appeal to NCP chief Sharad Pawar to meet the committee. After discussions, a detailed report will be submitted to the State Cabinet. All procedures will be completed before the due date for the loan waiver.”
Swabhimani shetakari sanghatana (SSS) MP Raju Shetty said, “Till yesterday, the government kept saying it will talk only to genuine farmers and refused to accept us as farmers. Now, it has formed a committee to talk to us.”
The Congress called it an attempt seek time. “This is not the time to discuss, but to take action. We demand that all farmers be given loan waivers at the earliest, instead of wasting time on discussion,” State unit chief Ashok Chavan said.
