The Shiv Sena, which seems eternally at loggerheads with its saffron ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has again lambasted the Devendra Fadnavis government over its alleged apathy towards the plight of drought-stricken farmers in Maharashtra
In a bristling editorial in the party’s mouthpiece Saamna , the Sena highlighted the painful suicide of a class 11 girl student from Latur district, Swati Patil (16), who hanged herself last week as she could not manage to come up with Rs. 260 to renew her bus pass which had expired.
The girl, who was utterly distressed on witnessing the financial plight of her parents, took the extreme step to relieve them of the future burden of marrying both her and her sister.
The Sena came down heavily on Mr. Fadnavis for purportedly drawing Rs. 8 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund meant for drought-afflicted farmers and providing the funds to sponsor a dance troupe visit to Thailand. The troupe was constituted of government employees.
The editorial roundly castigated the BJP government for failing to do anything to palliate the woes of drought-stricken farmers across the State despite completing a year in power.
“More than 600 farmers have committed suicide throughout this year, but this government has no qualms about sponsoring a Thailand trip for a dance troupe. And this at a time when 16-year-old Swati Patil could not afford her Rs. 260 to renew her bus pass that might have saved her life,” pointed the edit.
Mr. Fadnavis has defended his position by remarking that the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund has separate accounts for drought relief and that 25 per cent of the fund was reserved for cultural activities.
