Maharashtra govt to form task force on agrarian distress

The Maharashtra government has decided to appoint a task force to suggest ways to prevent farmer suicides and to bring about agricultural reforms.
Activist and Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti chief Kishore Tiwari would head the panel, sources said today.
Tiwari told PTI that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called him in the morning to intimate about the decision.
However, sources said that announcement would be made later.
The committee, to be tentatively called 'Farmers Distress Management Task Force', would address the issue of agrarian crisis in Maharashtra, especially the farmer suicides.
"There have been many committees, appointed by the Central and state governments, on farmer suicides, but their recommendations were somehow never implemented. Their reports included measures like credit for farmers, their food and health and education security, etc. We will also look into government packages given to farmers in the past. Our task will also be to find loopholes in government packages," Tiwari said.

The committee will suggest measures to implement reports of earlier panels.
Tiwari, a former member of BJP's student wing ABVP, has been a vocal critic of state government's agrarian policies, especially after the spate of farmer suicides began in the last decade.