Mumbai: Thousands of farmers have embarked on a 180-km march from Nashik to Mumbai for the second time in the last 12 months to protest against what they termed as the "betrayal" of peasants by the BJP governments at the state and centre. The march organisers on Thursday said that the decision to continue the march was taken after late night parleys with Maharashtra government remained inconclusive. “We have started our long march, though the police have refused us permission. We had a meeting with cabinet minister Girish Mahajan late last night. He was positive about our demands. But we have told them that this time, we will not listen to oral assurances. We want a written assurance from the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Till that time, we will continue our march,” Ashok Dhawale of the All India Kisan Sabha leader told CNN News18 in Nashik. The farmers reached Nashik late night on Tuesday after the State police finally allowed their vehicles to travel. According to local reports, tens of trucks, tractors and tempos were stopped at various places by the Maharashtra police on Wednesday. The police said the farmers were not allowed to travel to the protest destination. But the police relented after the media raised the issue. The State government has said it cannot give in to demands that have been made in light of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “They can’t have everything their way. We have already told them that the government has fulfilled all the legitimate demands. As the elections come close, they want to make sure that the farmers walk all the way from Nashik to Mumbai. This is not okay. We won’t allow them. And they can’t make the farmers walk for issues like allotment of ration cards,” Maharashtra cabinet minister Girish Mahajan told CNN News18. When asked about his position on the demands like the complete implementation of farm loan waiver and drought relief measures he said the government had already committed itself to fulfilling them. However, the activists claim that of the Rs 34,000 Crore farm loan waiver package announced by the government, only Rs 17,000 Crore was allotted. In fact, according to them, the disbursement process has been stopped. “The CM agreed that it had been halted as some loopholes had been found in the current implementation. They said they will first fix those. But how long will it take?” Dhawle asked. Meanwhile, another round of talks is expected to take place today afternoon, where Girish Mahajan is likely to present the farmers with a letter of assurance from the Chief Minister. Till that time, thousands of farmers from across the State will continue their silent march.<doc-sep>Thousands of farmers who assembled at Mumbai Naka in Maharashtra’s Nashik began marching to the state capital on Thursday in a repeat of last year’s “Long March”. The 180-km protest march to Mumbai is being organised by the All India Kisan Sabha, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), NDTV reported. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Cabinet ministers Girish Mahajan and Jaykumar Rawal met farmer leaders to discuss their demands, News18 reported. The All India Kisan Sabha claimed the Maharashtra government led by Devendra Fadnavis has not fulfilled its promises to farmers after the protest march in March 2018. The farmers’ demands include immediate relief in view of the drought-like situation, land rights, minimum support price for crops, better water resources and a crop insurance scheme. “A year has passed, but the state government is yet to fulfil its promises,” said Maharashtra General Secretary of Kisan Sabha, Ajit Navale. “Hence, the long march is being organised to protest the betrayal of farmers by the BJP-led state and central governments.” Navale told Scroll.in that at least 40,000 people are expected to walk from Nashik to Mumbai. “Last year, 15,000 people began the march from Nashik and people joined us along the way, so we ended with 40,000 in Mumbai,” he said. A case was filed against Navale on February 13 under Sections 188 (disobedience to order given by public officer) and 143a (unlawful assembly) after he organised a conference in Ahmednagar. “We organised a peaceful conference on February 13,” Navale told Scroll.in. “There was no violence or tension because of the meeting. The government filed this case to prevent us from marching.” Navale said cases were also filed against 250 farmer leaders. The Kisan Sabha said a meeting with Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Girish Mahajan on Wednesday night was satisfactory. “Mahajan has said he will consult the chief minister [Devendra Fadnavis] and solve this tangle,” said Kisan Sabha President Ashok Dhawale, according to Hindustan Times. “However, we have decided to start our march and will withdraw only when we get a proper guarantee and timeline [to resolve the issues] from the state government.” Farmers from 23 districts across Maharashtra joined the march, which was flagged off from Nashik on Wednesday to mark the fourth death anniversary of Communist ideologue Govind Pansare. The farmers aim to arrive in Mumbai on February 27, when the state Assembly’s Budget session will be under way. Police estimated at least 7,500 farmers had gathered in Nashik, according to The Indian Express. Com.Hannan Mollah, General Secretary AIKS inaugurating the Long March. Thousands of Peasants join defying threats, intimidation and police action.#BJPBetraysKisans #KisanMarchesAgain pic.twitter.com/ncIzJtyMUc — AIKS (@KisanSabha) February 20, 2019 Organisers of the protest march alleged that the state government was trying to “crush” the peaceful march through force. “For several hours, police kept detaining groups of farmers coming to join the procession without assigning any reason,” said Kisan Sabha spokesperson PS Prasad. “Cases are being lodged against our office-bearers.” At least 35 cars were stopped outside Nashik at Satara ghat, according to Navale. Thane Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjay Patil denied the allegation, saying police were taking down names and addresses as a “formality”. Nashik Police reportedly denied the farmers permission to take out the march and only gave permission for a meeting. Farmers, however, began the march, saying they were exercising their democratic right to protest. Dhawale said the organisation had held two meetings with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Girish Mahajan earlier this month, according to The Hindu. The first meeting on February 11 was an informal one, Dhawale said. “The formal meeting was held on February 17, where after three hours there was no progress,” Dhawale said. The decision to hold a second Long March was taken after talks failed. Farmers led by @KisanSabha will commence on a 2nd #KisanLongMarch against the betrayal of farmers by the Fadnavis-led BJP govt today, Feb 20 at 4.00 pm from Mumbai Naka, Nashik. pic.twitter.com/Zke3ldsRDu — CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) February 20, 2019<doc-sep>More than one lakh farmers in Maharashtra will begin their long march from Nashik to Mumbai tomorrow (20th February) as talks between the state government officials and farmer leaders remained inconclusive on Sunday (17th February). The farmers would cover almost 165 kilometres in eight days and reach Mumbai on 27th February. They are asking the Maharashtra government to honour and fulfill the commitments given to them during their protest rally in March 2018 and also take steps to alleviate farmers’ distress after a severe drought that engrossed half the State. It must be noted that last year’s Long March began with around 25,000 landless and tribal farmers and concluded in Mumbai with 50,000 cultivators was a turning point in farm movements in India. The pictures of farmers walking barefoot, some of them with bleeding feet, into the Mumbai city in the middle of night, flashed on all TV channels left a lasting impression on locals. The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the farmer body, which is backed by CPI (Marxist), said that this year more farmers are expected to join the rally against the government. AIKS statement mentioned that a farmer’s convention was organised on 13th February in Ahmednagar and it had submitted a memorandum to the district collector. It said further stated that instead of taking any action on the memo, police started registering cases against state AIKS leaders including Ajit Nawale, the state secretary. However, several meetings held between the government officials and farmer leaders, including the latest on 17th February, failed to yield any result. The AIKS leaders told clearly they would move ahead with the protest rally. Ashok Dhawale, AIKS president said, “Although Maharashtra has announced a loan waiver package worth 34,000 crore in 2017, government announced that it was not able to distribute only 17,000 crore until now. We want the government to take the immediate steps to fulfill the commitment made to the farmers”. Similarly, it had promised to provide land titles to the landless farmers and execute the Forest Rights Act. But excluding Surguna tehsil in Nashik, pattas are not given anywhere. Government gave it in Surguna as after pressure from MLA Jiva Pandu Gavit. AIKS has been asking the government to give land belonging to various temples in Maharashtra to the farmers who have been plowing these tracts of land. He said “There are around 6 lakh hectares of land under temple trusts that are cultivated by the landless farmers. Hence these farmers have a natural right over the land”. Dhawale further said “In the same way, government had promised to increase the pension for elderly farmers from Rs 600 / month, but it increased it to Rs. 900 / month, instead of 3,000 / month as demanded by the farmers. The farmers have also asked the government to introduce a farmer-friendly crop insurance scheme, better payment for crops, short-term & long-term measures to help growers to drought-proof their farms. He said, “As immediate actions, government must provide drinking water, increase the number of jobs available under MNREGA and waive school and college students fees”.<doc-sep>
Thousands of farmers began their eight-day protest march on Thursday from Maharashtra’s Nashik to Mumbai to press for their demands, including loan waivers, minimum support price and land rights, 11 months after a similar agitation in the state. The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), which has organised the approximately 200 kilometre Long March, has said the protest will start even as they are holding talks with the BJP-led government in the state. The organisation affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said its meeting with state water resources minister Girish Mahajan late on Wednesday night was satisfactory but they want the state government to take action accordingly. “Mahajan has said he will consult the chief minister (Devendra Fadnavis) and solve this tangle. However, we have decided to start our march and will withdraw only when we get a proper guarantee and timeline [to resolve the issues] from the state government,” said AIKS president Ashok Dhawale. The farmers’ march, which was supposed to start on Wednesday, was deferred by a day after police detained vehicles carrying the farmers to the venue in places like Palghar, Kasara, Dahanu and Jawhar. In addition, Nashik Police denied them permission for the march and gave them the green signal just for the meeting at the venue. However, the farmers have started their long march disregarding the permission saying they were exercising their democratic right to protest. The farmers have been demanding a revision of the river linking agreement to ensure that water is not diverted to Gujarat, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, transfer of forest land to tribals and pension scheme for farmers. In March last year, a similar protest was organised by AIKS in which 30,000 farmers participated. They withdrew the protest after the state government assured it will fulfil their demands. However, they claim that they were cheated as a majority of their demands are yet to see the light of the day. Lok Sangharsh Morcha, an outfit that works for the rights of tribals and farmers in Maharashtra and Gujarat, held a similar march in November last year to demand, among other things, transfer of land rights to 2.31 lakh eligible tribals and relief to drought-affected farmers. They withdrew their protest following a written assurance from the state government that their demands would be met within three months.