A day before the festival of Holi, distressed fruit farmers of Maharashtra lit their orchards on fire during “Holika Dahan” to register their protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led state and central government. During the protests, farmers also burnt the effigy of a “Chowkidar”.
According to a report in Dainik Bhaskar, on Wednesday, farmers burnt their orchards to highlight their suffering to the government. The Marathwada region of Maharashtra has faced severe droughts in the recent past, and due to an acute lack of water, farmers have lost a lot of their crops like grapes, mango, pomegranate and orange.
Despite being declared a drought-affected area, farmers have yet to receive help from the government. They are, also, yet to receive the Rs 6,000 which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised them under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. Farmers said, despite making multiple promises, the BJP government has not yet implemented the Swaminathan Commission recommendations.