Participants during the Janakrosh Morcha organised by Congress at the revenue divisional commissioner’s office in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Criticising the state cabinet’s decision to provide Rs5,000 to farmers for Diwali, Sapkal called it a cruel joke on those reeling under drought and said the amount was inadequate given the scale of crop losses. Agricultural workers and livestock were also suffering due to shortages of fodder and water,” he said.
Sapkal said farmers were grappling with both natural calamities and the consequences of govt policies. Former revenue minister Thorat said the drought situation was alarming, with the kharif season ruined and little prospect of meaningful returns from the rabi crop. Participants during the Janakrosh Morcha organised by Congress at the revenue divisional commissioner’s office in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Participants during the Janakrosh Morcha organised by Congress at the revenue divisional commissioner’s office in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar He alleged that the BJP govt had failed to respond to the growing distress in the farm sector and the rising number of farmer suicides in the state. The protest march was led by Prasad and Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal. Congress working committee member Balasaheb Thorat, MPs Dr Kalyan Kale, Dr Shivajirao Kalge and Prof Ravindra Chavan, Seva Dal state president Vilas Autade, OBC department state president Yashpal Bhinge, district Congress president Kiran Patil Dongavkar and city Congress president Syed Akram were among those who participated in the march. Congress functionaries from across Marathwada and a large number of citizens also joined the march. With the kharif crop severely damaged and little hope of returns from fields, Sakpal alleged that the govt in Mumbai and Delhi had remained insensitive to the plight of the farmers. “Marathwada is particularly vulnerable.
