Maharashtra: Stock up your veggies, farmers are on strike

Wholesale markets and agricultural produce marketing committees across Maharashtra wore a deserted look after farmers began their strike on Thursday to press for crop loan waiver and a couple of other demands. They dumped fruits and vegetables and spilled milk on roads and resorted to road blockades and hunger strikes. Wholesale markets in Nashik remained closed, while the 17 wholesale markets elsewhere in the state reported no business.

Incidentally, the Opposition Congress, NCP, BJP's ally Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and some 40 different organisations have extended their support to the strike.

Farmers emptied tankers and spilled milk and threw vegetables in Nashik, Ahmednagar, Pune, Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur. Some farmers emptied gunny bags of sugar as a mark of protest.
The idea for the strike originated in early April in Puntamba, a village near Shirdi in Ahmednagar district, when farmers of the two gram sabhas there decided that they would boycott markets from June, if the government fails to waive their loans and address other issues.

The agitating farmers have rejected appeals of Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Agriculture Minister Pandurang Phundkar and his deputy Sadabhu Khot to call off the strike and participate in talks. They, instead, hinted that the strike will continue until the government announces the decision to waive crop loan.

The strike was marred by stray incidents of violence on the first day. The farmers also resorted to stone- pelting and putting vehicles carrying fruits, vegetables and milk on fire. Some of them allegedly roughed up truck drivers and security personnel.

In Nashik, the police lathi-charged the protesters to bring the situation under control after trucks full of pomegranates and onions headed to different cities in the state were unloaded on the street. So far, 21 people have been detained.

Jayaji Suryavanshi, who is one of one of the organisers of the indefinite strike, told DNA from Aurangabad that farmers are not in a mood to call off the strike as they want the government not to waste further time in announcing the crop loan waiver.

"If the government and banks can write off loans of big industrial houses and other sections of the society why was not keen to take similar decision for genuine farmers who are reeling under a severe crisis. A concrete proposal with regard to loan waiver has been already submitted to the state chief minister two days ago but the government has not yet acted on it,'' Suryavanshi said.

He said that farmers' demands include implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, subsidy for drip and sprinkler irrigation, uninterrupted and adequate electricity supply, crop loan at zero interest rate, pensions for landholding farmers above the age of 60, raising the price of milk to Rs 50 per litre apart from the loan waiver.

Suryavanshi said the strike has elicited an overwhelming response except from the coastal Konkan region, who are not part of the strike. The strike has been 100 per cent in Nashik, 70 per cent each in Ahmednagar, Pune, Satara and Sangli, he said. Farmers have stopped selling their produce at the agricultural produce marketing committees, and wholesale markets. This has resulted in complete stoppage of functioning of these committees across the state.

Wholesale markets in Nashik are also shut. Seventeen wholesale markets have reported no business.

A government official, who did not want to be named, said the strike may cripple supply of milk, fruits and vegetables to Mumbai from Friday onwards. "Mumbai alone needs 55 lakh litre of milk per day of which 12 lakh litre comes from Kolhapur, 10 lakh litre from Ahmednagar, 15 lakh litre from Gujarat and 3 lakh litre from Karnataka. In Ahmednagar district alone, there are 3,500 milk collection centres and 500 chilling plants which are already closed."

Besides, he said, about 160 tonnes of vegetables are supplied every day from Nashik alone.