Farmers want probe into relief package scam

Hundreds of farmers and widows of farmers who committed suicide in cotton belt of western Vidarbha joined a day-long hunger strike at Pandharkawda in Yavatmal district on Tuesday. They were demanding a probe into the failure of special relief packages and disbursal of fresh crop loans for the kharif season.

“The CAG and the state Public Accounts Committee in their reports have pointed to irregularities and leakages in the Rs 3750 crore PM’s special relief package for the six districts of Vidarbha. But neither the Prime Minister’s Office nor Maharashtra government has initiated any action,” lamented Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samit president Kishore Tiwari who led the agitation.

“In the name of the dying farmers of Vidarbha, the ministers concerned with the implementation of the relief works have indulged in massive corruption,” he alleged. He also threatened to take out a march of farm widows to New Delhi to draw attention of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “Millions of drought-hit Vidarbha farmers are demanding fresh crop loan and sustainable alternatives to high-technology, high-risk crops promoted by MNCs. But the state and Union are actively promoting Bt cotton,” Tiwari told the public rally. Drawing attention of prime minister Manmohan Singh, he said only a CBI probe could unravel the massive leakage in the relief packages.