THOUSANDS OF INDIAN FARMERS PROTEST IN MUMBAI

MUMBAI: Tens of thousands of Indian farmers protested in Mumbai on Monday after walking more than a hundred kilometers to demand better crop prices and land rights. The farmers arrived in the city following a six- day trek from Nashik, situated 165 kilometers north of India’s financial capital. Officials estimated that up to 30,000 demonstrators, including elderly women and young children, had gathered at Azad Maidan playing field in the south of Mumbai to press their demands. The protesters want the state government of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, to transfer forest land to tribal farmers who have been working it for years. They also want to be paid one- and- a- half times the cost of producing their crops and are demanding that the government waives all farm loans. The Maharashtra government has said it is willing to consider the demands and is due to meet farming leaders to try to reach a deal.