Sharad Pawar calls Karnataka CM over onion farmers' stuck payments
Pawar spoke to Karnataka CM D.K. Shivakumar to help Maharashtra onion farmers recover dues owed by traders in APMC markets
Maharashtra's onion farmers have a total of Rs 2,24,95,121 stuck with traders in Karnataka's APMC markets. To help farmers get this money quickly, senior leader and former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has personally taken up the matter. Pawar telephoned Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and requested him to take the necessary steps to ensure the farmers' pending payment reaches them soon.
The matter concerns farmers Nanaso Babaso Kalaskar, Navnath Khashaba Thorat, Gorakh Ganpat Gadade and Ganesh Ganpat Gadade from Tandali village in Shirur taluka. All four had sold onions in a Karnataka APMC market, but traders still owe them Rs 2,24,95,121. Despite selling their onions, such a large sum being stuck left these farmers facing a financial crunch.
Seeing the farmers' distress, Krishibhushan Prahlad Ware met Sharad Pawar and asked him to intervene to help farmers recover the money stuck in Karnataka's APMC. Taking the issue seriously, Pawar immediately called Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. He told Shivakumar that money owed to Maharashtra's farmers for selling onions was stuck with traders in Karnataka's APMC, and requested him to take the necessary steps to ensure the farmers get their money as soon as possible.
Earlier, during a previous meeting, Pawar had also sent the Karnataka Chief Minister a letter in English. Meanwhile, Nanasaheb Kalaskar and fellow farmers met Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar at the APMC market in Bengaluru. During this meeting, Kalaskar showed the Chief Minister the letter sent by Pawar.
After reading the letter and understanding the full matter, Shivakumar assured the farmers that arrangements would be made to get their money as soon as possible. He also told the farmers that Sharad Pawar had called from Maharashtra regarding this matter.
Nanasaheb Kalaskar and fellow farmers said, "Pawar sahib spoke directly to the Karnataka Chief Minister for the money we earned through our hard work. This has given us hope that our issue will now be resolved and we will get the pending onion payment soon."
