19 September,2023 07:47 PM IST | Latur | mid-day online correspondent
Representative image/iStock
On Tuesday, farmers in a village in Maharashtra's Latur district ended their indefinite hunger strike after the local administration assured to release their pending instalments under the government scheme - Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan).
According to the sarpanch of the village, the farmers from Chilwantwadi village under Nilanga tehsil in Latur district, launched an indefinite hunger strike on Monday, September 18, in front of the collector office to protest against local administration for keeping them deprived of benefits under the PM-Kisan scheme.
"More than 300 farmers of Chilwantwadi village have not received fund benefits of the scheme for the last five instalments. Their names figure in the list of beneficiaries in another village, Channachiwadi, located adjoining their locality, though their lands fall in the vicinity of Chilwantwadi," the sarpanch explained to news agency PTI.
As the name of their village changed on paper, by the administration, these 300 farmers didn't get the benefit of the scheme. To protest against the negligence of the district administration, a group of farmers started the hunger strike.
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"Earlier, they had submitted multiple memorandums to the administration, but their grievances was not addressed. Taking cognisance of the farmers' protest, the administration assured them to deposit the pending instalments of the scheme to their bank accounts," said sarpanch Dnyanba Mare.
Mare further added that after receiving an assurance letter from the administration, the farmers withdrew their protest on Tuesday evening.
Under the government's PM-Kisan scheme, eligible cultivators/farmers are provided with a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year - in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each every four months. The fund is directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
(with inputs from PTI)
