By IANS,
Nagpur : Lamenting that the first three days of the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature have been wasted in verbal fights, gheraos and adjournments over trivial matters, an activist here alleged that legislators are only enjoying parties in clubs and resorts.
“Many legislators were seen in parties thrown in the name of birthdays, anniversaries or facilitations. They are ignoring serious issues related to farmers. Even the opposition does not seem to be interested in taking up such issues,” said Kishore Tiwari, president of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a farm advocacy group.
The legislators have not worked at all and are busy enjoying parties at nearby clubs and resorts, he alleged.
Nagpur is the second capital of Maharashtra and monsoon and winter sessions of the state legislature are held here.
The winter session is held here so that core issues of Vidarbha can be discussed but all parties are making a mockery of the problems faced by farmers, he said.
“The matter of relief packages is being blown out of proportion to get media attention, but why is the assembly not discussing other important issues like food security and health and educational help to victims of agrarian crisis?” he asked.
Tiwari said that the Bt Cotton crop failure in more than four million hectares of land has reduced cotton yield from 3.5 million quintals to 2.2 million quintals.
“The report sent by the state agricultural department to the centre states that the estimate of the net direct economic loss to cotton farmers in the state will be nearly Rs.6,000 crore, whereas accumulated losses are likely to cross more than Rs.20,000 crore due to a steep rise in cultivation costs,” he pointed out.
Tiwari demanded a compensation of Rs.20,000 per hectare and fresh crop loans for every farmer for the ensuing agriculture season.