Yavatmal: Over 150 farmers, including women, from Yavatmal joined farmer Dhananjay Wankhede’s indefinite hunger strike for a day on Friday, as he continued his protest at Brahmanwada village in Ner taluka demanding immediate drought relief.Ner is already among the 265 talukas notified as drought-like under Trigger-1, but the farmers said given the scale of crop losses this season, they cannot afford to wait for months for the assistance to actually reach them.The protesting farmers are demanding that state govt immediately declare drought in the affected areas and credit Rs50,000 per hectare directly into farmers’ bank accounts, rather than route the assistance “through the usual, slower channels”.The farmers also alleged that insurance claims for crop losses caused by hailstorms during 2020-21, even though sanctioned by the authorities concerned, had still not been credited to their bank accounts. They further alleged that not a single farmer in the village had received the crop insurance amount for the previous agricultural season either, “deepening their distrust of the compensation process”.Wankhede began the indefinite fast alone a few days ago, and since then, two to three villagers have joined him each day in rotation. Each group observes a single day’s fast before stepping aside for the next.On Friday, the daily turnout swelled sharply to 150, as the entire village came out in a show of collective support and observed a day-long fast alongside Wankhede.Wankhede, along with the villagers, warned that the indefinite hunger strike would continue without a break until state govt addressed their demands in full. They said the protest would not be called off on the basis of assurances alone, and that they expected concrete, time-bound action from the administration.
