Sena to protest against non-payment of farmers' insurance

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray Thursday said his party will take out a protest march on July 17 against insurance companies to seek expeditious clearance of the premium claims of farmers.

The protest march, to be held at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) where offices of several insurance companies are located, offices, will be a warning to these firms to pay the claims of cultivators at the earliest, he said.

"We also demand an independent Agriculture Commission with powers to deal with agriculture-related issues. The commission should be empowered to rectify loopholes in various schemes meant for the agriculture sector, since governments come and go but the official machinery remains the same," he said.

"If the warning doesn't work, we will talk to the insurance companies in the language of the Shiv Sena," the party chief said.

He also demanded that banks publish names of the farmers who loans were waived under the government's scheme for the same.