Farmers in Nashik dist’s tribal belt on indefinite strike for forest land rights

Nashik: Farmers from the tribal belt of Nashik district, under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), are protesting for various demands, including their rights on land parcels under the Forest Rights Act, irrigation benefits for the beneficiaries of FRA, among others.The farmers are on an indefinite strike and have blocked the roads leading to Gujarat from Nashik district. The administration diverted the traffic through alternate routes to ensure vehicles in both directions remained uninterrupted.Irfan Shaikh, an office bearer of AIKS, said, "The basic demands of the farmers are that they should get the allotted land parcels under the FRA. The beneficiaries who already got the land should be given the benefits of various govt schemes, including the Shetkari Sanmaan Yojana. The names of the landholders should also be included in the land records."Indrajeet Gavit, district secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) who is also part of the agitation, said, "There are various river-linking and water-diversion schemes being executed from Nashik district, but the local farmers are not benefiting from them."The farmers are sitting at the taluka headquarters or important market places, including Borgad on Vani–Saputara Road, Barhe on Nashik–Dharampur Road, Peth, Harsul, Trimbakeshwar, Dindori and Surgana.A meeting was held on Monday at the collectorate where additional collectors Hemangi Patil and Devdatta Kekan heard the demands of the farmers. The farmers were led by former MLA JP Gavit, Shaikh, and other politicians."We explained the issues of the farmers and drew their attention to the fact that there was no development regarding the promises and assurances made during the two long marches that farmers undertook from Nashik to Mumbai. If required, we will undertake a long march to Mumbai agai," Gavit warned.District collector Ayush Prasad said that the district administration heard the issues raised by the delegation. "Most of the issues are policy matters. We will send them to the state and central govts. We also requested the agitators to not block the roads or cause inconvenience to the traffic. They have assured us to not do that," the collector said.