A large group of women and daily wagers marched to the Latur collectorate on Wednesday
The protesters submitted a memorandum to the chief minister through the district collector, seeking immediate allocation of employment guarantee works, Rs 25,000 cash assistance for every drought-affected labourer family, a daily wage of Rs 600 with weekly direct bank transfers, and a moratorium on loan recovery during the drought. “Earlier we had given a representation on Oct 21, but got no response.
Work and wages are our rights,” said taluka coordinator Varsharani Waghmare, who led the march along with state coordinator Jeewan Rathod and Amrapali Tigote. At the same time, banks and microfinance institutions are resorting to coercive recovery, pushing families into a debt trap,” he said. If demands are not met, we will intensify agitation across Maharashtra,” Rathod said. However, senior officials said drought-relief measures were being rolled out at both the district and state levels. “State govt has already issued a stern warning to microfinance companies, banks and private moneylenders against using coercive methods or mental harassment to recover loans from distressed and drought-hit farmers,” officials said.
“We are not asking for charity. “Technical glitches like e-KYC and face-attendance failures, delays in issuing job cards and late payments have crippled the rural employment guarantee scheme. District collector Bharat Bastewad could not be reached for comment.