TIL Desk/National/Mumbai/ Reacting on All India Kisan Sabha protest march, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said farmers have been facing problems not only in Maharashtra but all over India. Talking to media on farmers protest, Rahul said, “This is not an issue of Maharashtra farmers alone but of farmers all over India.” All India Kisan Sabha protest march, led by over 30, 000 farmers, reached Mumbai’s Azad Maidan, after walking with blistered feet for about 180 km in the sun over the last five days.
They will proceed to the state assembly later in the day. The protest, which is held to demand a complete farm loan waiver among other things, commenced on March 5 from the CBS Chowk in central Nashik. Shiv Sena’s Aditya Thackeray had also met the farmers and interacted with them.
The farmers of the state have been demanding an unconditional waiver of loans and electricity bills; implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations; announcement of minimum support price for agriculture produce; and a pension scheme for farmers. Last year, the Maharashtra government announced a loan waiver of Rs 4,000 crore under the first phase of the farm loan waiver scheme.