Nagpur, Feb 12: The severe damage caused to both kharif and rabi crops due to unseasonal rains, hailstorm and disease and the Shiv Sena-BJP government's alleged apathy towards the payment of adequate compensation to the affected farmers and above all lack of availability of work under the Employment Guarantee Scheme in the Vidarbha region have become major election issues.The damage, according to reliable sources, amounting to about Rs 700 crore, has virtually collapsed the rural economy of the Vidarbha region known for the highest production of cotton popularly known as "white gold."
The Congress party and independent MLAs have decided to leave no stone unturned in exposing the alliance government over this issue and exerting pressure on it for immediate payment of compensation. The BJP nominee from Nagpur, Ramesh Mantri, admits that the farmers have suffered immensely and are facing severe hardships. However, he was confident that the alliance government in the state and the new government headed by ABVajpayee at the centre will bring about drastic changes for the benefit of farmers.
The opposition Congress and independents have taken up this issue to the streets and decided to hot up it further by organising morchas in the near future. What has irked farmers was a paltry compensation amount of mere Rs 100 or so paid by the government. Sunil Kedar, an independent MLA from Savner, who is spearheading an agitation on this issue, told The Financial Express that in his constituency, the government has sanctioned only Rs 22 lakh for the payment of compensation as against the requirement of Rs 3 crore. In case of adjoining Parshivani, the government has allotted a mere Rs 19 lakh, though the requirement was Rs 1.50 crore. Kedar said that a large number of agitated farmers have "returned with thanks" the compensation amount towards the chief minister's relief fund. More farmers will follow the bandwagon soon during a morcha at Ramtek slated for February 19. Similar action is possible during anothermorcha planned at Kamti on February 20.
Kedar, who took out a mammoth morcha last week, blamed the alliance government for its inaction under the garb of implementation of the model code of conduct. "It is ironical that the alliance, which has recently waived off Rs 400 crore worth arrears of a power distribution company run by a sugar baron in western Maharashtra, has no will to show the similar gesture to thousands of farmers who have been affected by the nature's fury," he alleged.
According to the information available, 20,000 hectares have been affected in the Nagpur district where soyabean, jowar, cotton, tur, chana, wheat and oranges have been ruined completely. The untimely rains have also damaged the fodder. Though the government had estimated a record procurement of 35 lakh bales of cotton under the much-debated Monopoly Cotton Procurement Scheme (MCPS), according to revised estimates, the procurement will not cross 15 lakh bales. Kedar pooh-poohed the state government's claim of payment of Rs2,100 per quintal to the cotton growers under MCPS for fair quality cotton and added that the farmers were actually paid Rs 1,500 only.
However, he added that the same quality cotton was sold at Rs 2,200 per quintal at the adjoining states. Kedar strongly demanded that the government should declare wet drought in this region and direct banks to stay the recovery of crop loans.
"If the government fails to do so, the ill-fated farmers will have to pay additional four per cent rate of interest after March," he cautioned.
Kedar, who was sacked by chief minister Manohar Joshi for supporting a Congress candidate in the 1996 elections, stressed the need for dividing the loan amount into three-yearly instalments and the payment of the first instalment by the state government this year.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
