To check suicides, Maharashtra govt wants drought-hit farmers to sell fish

The plan is to purchase 660 vehicles at a cost of Rs 66 crore. These vans will be transformed into mobile shops complete with a vending stall, a kiosk, insulated fish boxes, utensils, a stove and a refrigerator. The vehicles will be distributed among 132 self-help groups, each comprising five farmers, in the 14 districts of Marathwada and Vidarbha.

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“There is an abundant supply of fresh water fish in these regions. The farmers can take to selling fish in the district or start a small eating joint of sorts where they can cook the fish and sell them,” the official added.

These vans will be completely subsidised. The National Fisheries Development Board already provides 40 per cent subsidy to set up retail outlets to sell fish. The state government has said it will provide the remaining 60 per cent funds for the project from its own resources. The state’s contribution to the project will be Rs 39.6 crore.

The project will be run in Buldhana, Washim, Akola, Yavatmal, Amravarti, Wardha, Aurangabad, Jalna, Nanded, Beed, Parbhani, Osmanabad, Latur and Hingoli districts.

Farmers aged 18 to 60, who have their names registered on ‘7/12 extracts’, which denotes they own a piece of land, will be eligible for the scheme.

According to the government, there have been 1,300 farmer suicides in Maharashtra in the last six months.

The government has decided to launch Krishi Samruddhi Yojana to tackle the issue by easing the farmers’ loan burden, improving farm infrastructure and creating alternate revenue sources for farmers.

Some farmers have, however, panned the state’s latest move saying the policy planners are not taking ground realities into consideration.

“Selling fish is a full-time job. Why will farmers stop what they are doing and move towards selling fish? Where will he procure fish in the first place? Who will give him money to do that,” asked Nandu Chavan, a farm activist from Hingoli.

Others welcomed the move but said the project should be transparent so that the benefit reached those who needed it the most.

“It is a positive gesture but nearly Rs 60 crore is involved. There needs to be transparency to see who gets these vehicles. It should not be the case that rich farmers get benefit of such schemes while poor people are left out,” said Bhausaheb Chavan, a farmer from Beed.