MUMBAI: As thousands of farmers crossed into neighbouring Thane district as part of their ‘long march’ to Mumbai, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) on Tuesday said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave its delegation a concrete assurance about fulfilling their demands. A delegation of AIKS, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), met the chief minister at his residence ‘Varsha’ here.
In a statement issued in the evening, AIKS leaders said the delegation earlier had a nearly two-hour meeting at the state secretariat ‘Mantralaya’ with Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, Tribal Development Minister Ashok Uike, School Education Minister Dadasaheb Bhuse, Forest Minister Ganesh Naik, the chief secretary and senior officials.
The government had not issued any statement till late in the evening on these meetings.
Naswale said that the government agreed to re-examine all forest rights claims at the district level, acknowledging that discrepancies between land eligible for title and actual possession had arisen due to incorrect reports of the forest department.
Committees headed by sub-divisional officers will be formed in each district to re-examine every forest rights case, and the entire exercise will be completed within three months, he said.
An implementation committee including ministers would be constituted to expedite the process, and crop inspection on forest land would be carried out to enable cultivators to access all government schemes, the AIKS leader said.
“The state government agreed to procure paddy and tribal crops such as varai, nagli and sava, along with strawberries and baal hirda, from cultivators of forest land at fair prices, and to extend the paddy bonus to them as well,” he said, adding that e-crop inspection of forest landholders would be undertaken to ensure they receive benefits of all applicable schemes.
On temple lands, Naswale said the process of drafting a law to transfer such lands in the names of cultivators had begun following sustained agitation by the Kisan Sabha, and a draft has been shared with the organisation. While welcoming certain provisions, the AIKS has sought substantial changes, and a meeting chaired by the revenue minister will be held within eight days to address shortcomings, he added.
Naswale also claimed that the government accepted the demand to retain rainwater from seven west-flowing rivers in tribal areas for local use and for drought-prone regions of Maharashtra, instead of diverting it elsewhere. “A concrete action plan involving construction of a chain of check dams has been decided upon, with a detailed blueprint to be prepared at the Nashik district collector level. The proposals submitted by the Kisan Sabha should be seriously considered,” he said.
He claimed the government agreed to immediately implement court orders allowing recruitment of up to 50 per cent of sanctioned posts under the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA). On power supply, Naswale said the government would collect information on districts where electricity for agricultural irrigation is currently provided at night, and take a decision to shift farmers to day time power supply in those areas.
