Farmers in Maha villages to go on strike in June, says MP

Farmers of around 40 villages of western Maharashtra and Marathwada have resolved to go on a strike by not going to their farms from June 1 to press for their demands, including farm loan waiver, Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetti said today.
"In Puntamba village in Maharashtra, they have resolved at a meeting that they would go on strike from June 1. After June 1, no farmer in this village would either do farming, or go to their farms," the Shetkari Swabhimani Sanghatana (SSS) member said during the Zero Hour.
"It is shocking that in Marathwada and in 40 villages around Western Maharashtra that such kind of a resolve has been made" by the farmers, he said.

The "thought of a rebellion is slowly spreading" to the entire Maharashtra, he said, adding that it was a matter of "grave concern".
"There are certain demands which have been kept by the farmers. The first demand was about an assurance given by the Prime Minister that the minimum support price would be 1.5 times more than the cost of production," Shetti said.
Their second demand was in regard to waiving off farm loans, he said, adding that the third demand related to pension for farmers who are over 60 years of age. "Their demands were valid".
"Before this, several years ago, the farmers of Andhra Pradesh had decided to go on strike with regard to crops. That time... A special package was given to those farmers," he said.

Shetti said that a special package could be a solution for the "protesting and worried farmers of the entire nation.