Farmer climbs on Mantralaya building in support of demands

A young farmer today climbed on the seventh floor of the state secretariat building, demanding a slew of welfare measures for cultivators and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations.
The farmer, Dnyaneshwar Salve, climbed on the parapet of the seventh floor of Mantralaya, the Maharashtra government's administrative headquarters in South Mumbai, police officials said.
The drama ended after sometime when police officials convinced the 28-year-old protester to climb down from the building, they said.
Salve is a resident of Osmanabad district, some 400km away from Mumbai, and was detained when he came down, the officials said.
The act has also exposed the security lapses at the state headquarters.

"We will have to find out how he sneaked out of the window (and landed on the parapet) of the seventh floor," an officer from the administrative department of the Mantralaya said.

Education and Cultural Minister Vinod Tawde, who was in the Mantralaya at the time of the incident, also tried to communicate with Salve.
Tawde later said Salve did not have any personal demands.
He said the farmer's demands included implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, higher MSPs for farm produce and completion of online procurement of crops within 48 hours, among others.
No case should be filed against him, the minister said, adding Salve had staged the protest to highlight the condition of farmers.