-The Indian Express The demand is a call for upholding local practices of belonging On March 12, about 50,000 farmers reached Mumbai, walking 165 km in the hope that their elected representatives would listen when they spoke. A majority of these farmers were Adivasis and one of their demands was the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and through it, their land rights. The FRA was enacted in 2006 with the...

-The Indian Express Forest Rights Act is not an obstacle to growth. Its non-implementation will be politically counter-productive. The farmers’ and forest dwellers’ march from Nashik to Mumbai, and the Maharashtra government’s decision to approve most of their demands within the next six months, has established the fact that land and forest rights are going to be determining factors for political establishments across India. The protest in Mumbai tells us that a...

-Hindustan Times Both, the farmers who undertook the march and those who went on strike, represent the wide spectrum of the state’s ongoing agrarian and rural distress. Last year, on June 1, thousands of farmers in Maharashtra went on an unprecedented strike, refusing to sell their produce to markets and cutting off supply of daily necessities – milk, vegetables and fruits – to cities. The two-day strike forced the Devendra Fadnavis-led...

-NDTV The Azad Maidan in Mumbai turned into a "sea of red" as thousands of farmers, carrying red flags, converged here after walking 180 kms from Nashik Mumbai: The Devendra Fadnavis government of Maharashtra has agreed to the demands of thousands of protesting farmers who have been pouring into Mumbai for the last two days. The government has given its acceptance in writing, said state minister Chandrakant Patil, after a delegation...

-The Telegraph Mumbai: The blistered foot rattled India's financial capital so badly that it had to sit up and engage with those it had been taking for granted for so long. The BJP-led government in Maharashtra has "accepted" the demands of farmers hours after 35,000 of them, many barefooted, marched on Mumbai, braving the blazing sun for nearly a week and walking 180km. The farmers then decided to end their agitation. The key...