Farm activist and Shiv Sena leader Kishore Tiwari on Wednesday demanded setting up of a body on the lines of human rights commissions to exclusively deal with agrarian issues and suicide by farmers.
Tiwari said he had submitted a proposal to Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to establish 'Maharashtra Farmers' Rights Commission' (MFRC) vested with judicial power.
Speaking to PTI, Tiwari suggested that independent experts be roped in to address various core issues concerning agriculture which he identified as credit supply policy control; fund management for cost of cultivation or stabilisation of agricultural prices; equal distribution of water resources and control of rain and underground water resources.
"I requested Uddhavji that 'Maharashtra Farmers' Rights Commission' (MFRC) be set up and be vested with full judicial power on the lines of human rights commissions. This move will help in tackling thethree-decade-old issue of farmers suicides and restoring the rural economy by implementing an integrated programme," said Tiwari, who also heads the state government's Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalamban Mission.
Tiwari said debt relief, grant of subsidies, providing free food and healthcare are not permanent solutions to deal with the agricultural crisis.
Notably, after becoming chief minister of Maharashtra in November, Uddhav Thackeray had announced an unconditional farm loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh for farmers.
Vidarbha region in east Maharashtra is commonly known as the "suicide belt" given that thousands of farmers from the region have killed themselves over the last many decades, either due to indebtedness or crop failure.
Source ( India Today)