Victory in Local Body Election to Ruling NCP-Cong. Likely to Dash Hope of Vidarbha Farmers

Victory in Local Body Election to Ruling NCP-Cong. Likely to Dash Hope of Vidarbha Farmers

Nagpur -13th December ,2011

Maharashtra DF Govt. is all set to give another eyewash in the name of vidarbha farmer package and after the  landslide victory urban local body  elections is set to dash the hope of 5 million farmers  who are facing severe economical crisis due to massive crop failure who are demanding the bailout package and hike in MSP of cotton ,soybean and paddy  as Govt. is taking election of public mandate on their wrong agrarian policies and to cut amount of compensation to dying cotton farmers of vidarbha as per information being leaked from the office of the chief minister of maharashtra ,Kishor Tiwari, president of Nagpur-based Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, (VJAS), activist group working for cotton farmer rights who are documenting these farm suicides since 1997 informed in a Press release today.

‘After the result of  urban local body  elections on 12^th December CM called meeting of all senior babus to consider the proposed bailout package and all babus asked CM that bankrupt financial condition  of maharashtra  cant  even give Rs.1000/- per hector to 5 millions farmers against the demand of Rs.10,000/- and the landslide victory urban local body  elections even in vidarbha reflects that farmers are happy and only political activist are demanding not the farmer, convinced CM  with arguments of maharashtra CS  and other babus asked them to cut the amount of relief considerably and he assured babus that he will clam down the voice congress –NCP ministers and MLAs who are demanding higher price for the cotton and Rs.10,000/- per hector compensation, this is vey un fortunate will fuel the farmer suicides of vidarbha  ’Tiwari   

The suicide spiral of debt trapped vidarbha farmer who are deep grip of agrarian crisis since 2005 due successive crop failure and volatile market prices of cotton has added 11 more victims as these 11 farmers suicides cases surfaced in first 10days of December 2011 when they failed to get any rlief from state due to technical hurdles created by state election which has administration to announce any relief to 5 million dying farmers of Maharashtra on the pretext of so called code of conduct enforced due on going local body election Maharashtra taking toll to 715 in year 2011, ill feted farmers are

‘we are demanding long term solution to agrarian crisis not any package which are mostly contractor driven and designed to rehabilitation of the ill managed politician runs cooperative banks. our farmers are working for handful MNCs who are manufacturing Gm seed, fertilizer and pesticides and revival od own agriculture is must which is not being done ’ Tiwari said.

The vidarbha agrarian is result of wrong policies promoted by state and situation of cotton growers in west Vidarbha has worsened when ban of cotton export imposed last year and massive crop failure this year .

"There is a need for state government's intervention in this regard. The government should provide at least Rs 6,000 per quintal. The chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had promised that he would talk with the union government for better support price for the raw cotton. However, nothing has been done in this regard," Tiwari alleged.

Tiwari continued, "The government did not concede our demand of providing food security to desperate, distressed and marginal farmers even. The government needs to behave sensibly and responsibly to address farmers' woes and prevent the prevailing spate of suicide in the killing fields of Vidarbha." If the cotton growers do not get better price this season, the situation will assume drastic proportions, he cautioned.

VJAS has urged Govt. of India to send team of expert to assess the Bt. Cotton crop damage in Maharashtra and west vidarbha in particular where cotton farmers are killing themselves .VJAS has been demanding hike in cotton MSP Rs.6000/- per quintal and relief package to dying cotton farmers of region, Tiwari added.