A farmer harvests damaged soybean crops at Kalamb village in Pune district. (Representative image)
Credit: Reuters File photo
Mumbai: Amid unseasonal rainfall and crop losses, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has intensified demands for an immediate relief and loan waiver for farmers in Maharashtra.
MVA leadership including NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, and state Congress president Harshavardhan Sapkal have made the demand and lashed out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who heads the Maha Yuti government.
“The government must declare a wet drought and complete a loan waiver for farmers,” Pawar said “Nearly 2,000 farmers have died by suicide in recent times. Why does a farmer take such an extreme step? It is because the government fails to take responsibility during their times of crisis,” Pawar said.
Thackeray too had asked the government to provide relief to the farmers. "You are spending crores in advertisements, instead, you should provide immediate relief to the farmers," he said.
Sapkal said that unseasonal rains have wreaked havoc across the state, leaving farmers in extreme distress. “Crops have been destroyed in almost every region, wiping out the entire Kharif season and pushing farmers to ruin. Yet the Maha Yuti government has no time even to look their way. Despite the enormity of the crisis, neither Fadnavis nor a single minister from his cabinet has spoken a word about providing aid. The government must recognise the seriousness of the situation and immediately provide farmers with a uniform relief of Rs 50,000 per hectare,” he demanded.