MNS to hold rural protest on Nov 27

MUMBAI: The morcha will be a show of anger against the mishandling of the drought which has affected more than 5 crore farmers and the government’s failure to take corrective action.

ANIL SHIDORE, MNS spokesperson

Claiming the state government is mishandling the drought in Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) plans to carry out a massive agitation on November 27 at Aurangabad, where the party claims it will be joined by lakhs of farmers.

“The morcha will be a show of anger against the mishandling of the drought which has affected more than 5 crore farmers and the failure of the government to take corrective action,” said MNS spokesperson Anil Shidore.

On August 31, the Devendra Fadnavis-led government declared drought in 151 tehsils across 26 districts in the state. But according to MNS, it has not followed the Drought Management Manual (2016) while declaring the crisis. “Today the authorities have no data on the amount of water or fodder available in these tehsils. There is no information about the employment of the locals in these places,” said Shidore.

Shidore said the manual specifies that employment needs to be created urgently in these areas and the government also needs to advise farmers on the crops.

The MNS workers will present a memorandum to tehsil offices demanding information on the complete picture in drought-affected areas.

Recently party chief Raj Thackeray, as a part of his statewide tour, had visited drought-affected areas in western Maharashtra and expressed concern over the condition of the farmers. Sharad Pawar, the NCP chief also said though there have been droughts before in the state, the present government has no plans to tackle the crisis.