Fadnavis says farmers' issues will be settled soon

As thousands of farmers and adivasis from different pasts of Maharashtra marched to Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured to settle the forest land rights issue by December.

A delegation of farmers' leaders led by Lok Sangharsh Morcha general secretary Pratibha Shinde met Fadnavis at the Vidhan Bhavan complex here to discuss the issue vis-a-vis the farmers like the forest land rights issue, loan waiver and the prevailing drought situation.

"I have directed the chief secretary to look into the cases and take up this issue of forest land rights on a mission mode and complete the process at the earliest. Drought benefits will also be given to those tribals, where forest land rights appeals are still pending," Fadnavis said after the meeting.

Water resources minister Girish Mahajan and tribal affairs minister Vishnu Savara were also present in the meeting.

Collectors from various tribal districts joined this meeting via video conferencing and many districts have shown significant progress in allotment of forest land rights.

Savara said 3.6 lakh claims were received, of which 1.74 lakh have been settled in favour of the tribals. Similarly, 12,000 claims for community forest activity were also received, of which7,700 have been settled, he added.

Fadnavis assured the delegation that the remaining claims would be settled by December this year. The farmers march reached Azad Maidan on Thursday morning - coinciding with the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature.

In March, farmers and tribals had undertaken a similar march led by the Left-affiliated All India Kisan Sabha to raise this issue coinciding with the budget session of Maharashtra legislature.

The farmers are demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report, which suggested that farmers must have assured access and control over resources such as land and water. They are also demanding an increase in the minimum support price and a judicial system to ensure its implementation. They also raised the issue of loan waiver package announced by the BJP-Shiv Sena government, land rights for farmers and compensation for farm labourers.