Fadnavis-Joshi talks on farm package fail

NAGPUR: The talks between chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and farmers’ leader Sharad Joshi fizzled out here on Friday. Joshi’s Shetkari Sanghatana has now decided to go ahead with its plans for a sit-in agitation in front of CM’s Dharampeth residence on Sunday.
Fadnavis, however, told the agitating farm leaders that the government may consider restructuring of pending loans and power bills and defer loan recovery for all farmers across the state.Following the Sanghatana agitation call, Fadnavis had invited the aging farm leader for talks on Friday at his official residence Ramgiri.
Joshi and his team had an hour-long talk with Fadnavis. Coming out of the talks, Joshi said the Sanghatana would go ahead with the agitation as major demands like complete waiver of loans and power bills as well as higher remunerative prices for cotton, soyabean and paddy were not accepted by the chief minister. “Our ‘thiyya’ (sit-in) agitation plan in front of CM’s house in Dharampeth for Sunday,” said Joshi.
He told the CM how the agriculture situation was precarious all over the state with virtually every crop lost because of adverse weather. Moreover, very low rates offered through minimum support price fixed by the government meant farmers would earn too little to repay the loans or even electricity bills.
Huge losses had caused a fresh bout of distress among farmers reflecting in a jump in farmer suicides in last month or so. Fadnavis acknowledged the crisis and said the government had already declared 19,059—almost all of the state’s villages— as drought affected. These villages, as per set norms where crop ‘annewari’ (returns on investment) is less than 50 paise, would be entitled to relief like deferring of power bills payment and crop loans, school fee waiver for farmers children etc. The drought hit villages were mainly in Marathwada and Vidarbha. But now the relief may be considered across the state, he said.
Joshi said Fadnavis had pleaded for more time as his government had not completed even a month in office. Similarly, he had also told the farm activists that measures like providing solar pumps for farms, solar fences and crop insurance for which damage would be assessed speedily through remote sensing were in the offing. The CM made it clear that the Centre as well as the State were not in a position to give blanket loan waiver as they were facing severe funds crunch.