After undertaking a 15-km-long march on foot in the farmers’ suicide-hit belt of Amravati district in the blistering heat of 40 degrees Celsius and interacting with the affected families, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi castigated the “elected Government of capitalists” in New Delhi for “abandoning” the distressed farmers and agricultural labourers in Vidarbha and elsewhere in the country.
Rahul, whose Samvad Padyatra took him to five villages in Amravati district that recorded the highest number (295) of suicides by farmers during the first three months of this year, dubbed his interaction with the farmers, whom he met at their homes and en route, as “very disturbing”, and said that there was a “sense of abandonment” among the affected peasant families.
Coming down heavily on the Centre for “ignoring” the farmers and agricultural labourers in not just Maharashtra, but the entire country, he said: “Farmers are in distress everywhere. Something should be done. That’s why I have come here”.
In his pointed criticism of the Narendra Modi-led Government, the Congress vice-president said: “But, the Government (we have in New Delhi) is an elected Government of capitalists. It is not a Government of farmers, agricultural labourers, the poor or small businessmen”.
Hitting out at Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh for claiming that only three farmers had committed suicide and at his counterpart from Haryana OP Dhankar for his comment that farmers who commit suicide are “cowards”, Rahul said: “The other day, the Agriculture Minister said in Parliament that only three farmers have committed suicide. Another Minister from Haryana said that the farmers whom I met today are cowards and that their Government won’t help the farmers who are cowards. That’s why I have come here”.
Exhorting the farmers in Maharashtra not to get disheartened, Rahul said: “I would like to tell the farmers here not to get disheartened. We are standing by them and whatever may be the consequences, we will fight their battle”.
Rahul, who arrived in Nagpur from the Capital on Wednesday night, left for Gunji Village in Dhamangaon railway tehsil of Amravati district by road, and was greeted by people who had lined up on both sides of roads at Kondhali and Talegaon villages. He halted briefly at Talegaon and talked to people about their problems, before heading to Gunji Village.
Having begun his foot march from Gunji at 8.30 am, Rahul walked to Shahpur Village, where he met the family of Kishore Kamble, a farmer who had committed suicide, and assured the bereaved family members financial assistance and a job for one person.
later on, he proceeded to Ramgaon, where he met another affected family and interacted with people both en route to the village and at the village. His next destination was Rajna Village, from where he walked to Tongalabad.
Rahul met the bereaved families of Nilesh Bharat Balke and Ambadas Mahadev Wahile at Gunji, Kishore Namdeo Kamble at Shahpur, Kachru Goma Tupsundre at Ramgaon, Marutrao Nevare at Rajana, Manik laxman Tavkare, Ashok Satpise and Ramdas Adikane at Tonglabad Village. He also interacted with a group of farmers at Hirapur Village.
Talking to media persons after winding up his foot march at Tonglabad, Rahul said: “My interaction with farmers was very disturbing. I had come earlier to Vidarbha, but I have never seen a situation like this. There is a feeling of abandonment among the farmers. That’s the problem”.
“If the people are in difficulty, the role of a Government is to lend a helping hand and comfort them. But, the people here feel that the Government has abandoned them,” Rahul said.
listing the problems of farmers he said: “There are three issues in all. The major issue is their debts. Wherever I went, people were telling me about the need for debt waiver. let me tell you that whoever is committing suicide is because of the debts. The second problem is that like in Punjab and other places, the farmers here are not getting Minimum Support Price (MSP), let alone a hike in the MSP. Third, they are not getting the crop bonus that they used to get in the past. The general feeling is that the farmers are not getting assistance they ought to get from the Government.”
Asked if he had given any concrete assurance to the families of the distressed farmers whom he met Rahul said: “How can I give any concrete assurance when we are not in powerIJ It is for the Maharashtra Government and the Centre to come to the rescue of the needy farmers. We do not have the capacity to help the distressed farmers. But, we will definitely try to help them in some ways.”