words per minute
13
SamKumar
00:00
Speed
On June 1, farmers in Maharashtra went on strike for the first time ever. Their agitation saw violence, and angry farmers spilling milk and throwing vegetables on the road; at one point the strike expanded into a bandh call, where agitators threatened to stop supply to urban markets. This apparently leaderless agitation grabbed the attention of both the government and the urban population, quite ignorant of conditions in rural areas. A week into the protest, the farmers have made one gain: the Maharashtra government has committed itself to a deadline by which it will announce a loan waiver.
The main demand: loan waivers. The other demands include higher support price for their produce and the implementation of the Swaminathan Committee recommendations. The BJP had made the implementation of the report, tabled a decade ago, a campaign promise during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The demands are not new. Farmers have also asked for a cap on import of farm produce and an increase in import duty to safeguard the interests of the farm sector. Traders made a killing because they were able to buy at lower rates, and when the Minimum Support Price (MSP) kicked in, they sold at the MSP, leading to more farmer fury. Farmers say the government's failure to anticipate the larger crop isn't their fault, and a loan waiver would help them offset their losses because they heeded the Prime Minister's appeal but were then let down by the government. Farmer's organisations admit a waiver is not the ultimate solution, but say it will have at least a soothing effect and bring farmers back into the credit system. Farm loan waivers in the States ruled either by the BJP or the allies of the NDA have prompted them to ask, why not in Maharashtra?