Maharashtra: Farmers walk from Nashik to Mumbai demanding loan waivers and pension
12 March 2018: Around 50,000 farmers walked from Nashik to the state assembly in Mumbai demanding an unconditional waiver of their loans, waiver of electricity bills, implementation of Swaminathan Commission recommendations and pension for farmers.
The long march which began on 6 March 2018 from CBS chowk, Nashik, lasted six days, during which farmers covered more than 180kms on foot and walked through the night to not cause inconvenience to students who were to appear for their Secondary Board Exams during the day. The long march was organised by the All India Kisan Sabha a farmer’s trade union affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The Maharashtra government was forced to agree to all the demands of the farmers and has promised to implement policies in phased manner to tackle with the agrarian distress in the state. Maharashtra has been grappling with increasing number of farmer suicides every year since the last decade or so.
