Washim farmers demand drought declaration, submit memorandum to collector

Rain has stayed away from Washim district for the past 45 days, leaving farmers unable to salvage their kharif season crops. With no rain, the standing crops dried up and were ruined in the fields, creating drought-like conditions across the district. This has pushed farmers into severe financial distress, with many losing their entire expected harvest and now worried about both future farming and running their households.

Against this backdrop, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) party held a farmers' protest march on Monday, demanding that the district be declared drought-affected and that farmers receive immediate assistance. After the march, a memorandum was submitted to Collector Yogesh Kumbhejkar, which will also be forwarded to the Chief Minister, ensuring the farmers' demand reaches the state government's highest level and not just the district administration.

The march was led by Shiv Sena MLA and deputy leader Nitin Bapu Deshmukh. He was joined by district chief Balaji Wankhede, Dr. Sudhir Kawar, Dr. Siddharth Devale, Gajanan Deshmukh and Prashant Surve. A large number of farmers participated voluntarily in the march. In a notable sight, some Shiv Sena office-bearers led the march while seated on a bullock cart.

In the memorandum, Shiv Sena raised several demands. First, it demanded that Washim district be immediately declared drought-hit and that farmers be given assistance of Rs 50,000 per hectare. It also demanded an immediate panchnama, or government survey, of the district's condition, and that the entire district be declared drought-affected.

The party also demanded that the four triggers of last year's crop insurance scheme be reinstated, so that farmers who suffered losses receive insurance compensation as per the rules. Shiv Sena warned that if the government did not seriously and promptly consider all these demands and take a positive decision, an intense agitation would be launched.