Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM) headed by Kishor Tiwari was constituted by the state government for redressal of farmers' grievances and was asked to submit a report on measures needed to tackle agrarian crisis in the 14 drought-prone districts of Maharashtra.
In the report submitted to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently, Tiwari has proposed laying out a distress management relief plan that covers food security, health services improvement, providing 100 per cent fresh farm credit and crop insurance cover to every farmer.
The second of suggestions includes restoration of agriculture extension services, participation of Krishi Vikas Kendras (KVKs) in agro-counselling, reintroduction of food, edible oil and pulses crop, soil moisture management, long term farm credit policy and income based resource mobilisation in rural economy.
The activist also proposed that farmers of the 14 districts be made to shift from rain sensitive crops to cultivating edible oil seeds abd pulses while nalas, rivers that were dead be revived under the Jalyukt Shivar project.
"There is urgent need to improve the public education
system that shall reduce the dependence of farmers on costly private educational facilities," Tiwari, who has been accorded the status of MoS by state government, told