Farmers Are Always Deceived: Raju Shetty, Leader Maharashtra Farmer Protests
Vegetables dumped on the highways, milk containers emptied on the roads, the march of 3,000 farmers of Maharashtra from Pune to the capital city Mumbai, has taken the centre stage and is threatening to affect the supply of vegetable, fruit and milk in the state.
For Raju Shetty the Member of Parliament from sugar-rich Kolhapur belt of Maharashtra and the man leading the agitation, the unrest is not sudden but it is a result of three years of consecutive natural calamity, faulty agricultural policies and government apathy.
“Prime minister Narendra Modi had promised during his pre-election rallies in Maharashtra about farmer welfare, its three years now, but the farmers are deceived again” Raju Shetty told BW Businessworld in an interview.
Raju Shetty has started his journey under the guidance of Sharad Joshi of Shetkari Sangthana, however a split in the Shetkari Sangthana in 2004 led him to start his own organisation Swabhimani Shetkari Sangthana in the same year.
“Karnataka Rayat Sangha (farmers movement in Karnataka), has supported us and during a decades time we have grown bigger. There was an organised nexus by sugar co-operatives in Maharashtra that has cheated the farmers from the beginning and then there were problems with milkmen of the Maharashtra, it was our duty to fight for their cause that may have made us popular and now we are a strong voice” Shetty shares his journey.
Speaking about the recent agitation and various issues faced by farmers in Nation, Shetty said, “they are the only community in the nation, deceived by people in power. They face simple issues like, ensuring timely planting in their fields, timely irrigation, and cultivation of crops for selling their produces in right price. They are poor, they need interest free loans, subsidy in electricity for farming purposes, and they need an assurance for the right support prices for their farm produces.”
However he feels that the government has back stabbed farmers and have taken policy decisions which has gone against the farmer.
“Government has imported tur pulses for no reason and sufferers were the farmers, as they didn’t get optimum prices in market for their pulse, now, the farmers who took loan for tur production cannot repay it, as they are not getting right prices and then there are acts like sale of pulses on the same token in Mandi’s,” he explains adding that the unrest is a representation of all of this.
On the solutions of these issues. Shetty replied, “I am continuously asking to implement Swaminathan committees report, this is what PM has also promised to us prior to elections, or at-least, farmers can get interest free loans and free electricity and when they are old they must be entitled to get pension.”
He continued, “Governments must not make promises, if they don’t have strength to fulfil them.” “What will happen if farmers believe government and try to leverage from loan waiver and free electricity? Ultimately he has to pay more interest for it and then there is no other way than to commit suicide.”
