Farmers delegation reaches Maharashtra Assembly

A delegation of farmers from All India Kisan Sabha on Monday reached the Maharashtra Assembly for the meeting with the state government formed committee to discuss their demands.

Talking to ANI, Maharashtra Minister Girish Mahajan assured to give solutions for farmers issue.

"There will be a meeting with farmers at 1 pm. I think we will give solutions for 80-90 percent of their issues. We are serious about the demands including loan waiver and will come up with best decisions. Written assurance will be given for accepted demands," Mahajan said.

The protest march, led by over 30, 000 farmers, reached Mumbai's Azad Maidan, after walking with blistered feet for about 180 km in the sun over the last five days.

The protest, which is held to demand a complete farm loan waiver among other things, commenced on March 5 from the CBS Chowk in central Nashik.

The farmers of the state have been demanding an unconditional waiver of loans and electricity bills; implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations; announcement of minimum support price for agriculture produce; and a pension scheme for farmers.

Last year, the Maharashtra government announced a loan waiver of Rs 4,000 crore under the first phase of the farm loan waiver scheme.