Farmers flood Mumbai, force Maharashtra govt to accept four major demands
Faced with a public-relations crisis, the government of India’s richest state accepted four major demands made by thousands of farmers, after they flooded in to Mumbai on March 12, 2018. A seven-day, 180-km march of 35,000 mostly poor farmers in India’s richest state finally attracted nationwide attention when they reached the country’s financial capital to bring their problems to the attention of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. They marched for four distinct reasons: land rights to those who have tilled forest land for several years; better minimum prices from the government for agricultural produce and better security against the vagaries of the monsoons; pensions for agricultural labour, still considered a part of the informal sector; proper implementation of farm-loan waivers that the government promised; and for relief from the economic losses of 2016’s demonetisation decision. As the march made national headlines, the government announced by the evening of March 12, 2018, that it would accept demands related to expanding the eligibility of the farm-loan waiver announced in 2017, quicker transfer of land titles under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and increasing pensions to agricultural labourers, from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per month.
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