PONDA: The Marcaim Bar Amre Khajan Tenant Association (Farmers) Committee, led by Chairman Vasudev Gaude, has finally been elected after a one-year hiatus. The election meeting, chaired by Avval Karkum from the Mamlatdar Office, took place recently.
The farmers, who had experienced a halt in agricultural activities since January of the previous year, emphasised the urgent need to repair the doors of the broken sluice gates. The damaged gates led to the fields filling with saline water, obstructing paddy and vegetable cultivation in the area.
The background to this election traces back to January 2023, when agricultural activities came to a standstill in Marcaim. During a Farmers General Body Meeting, it was revealed that the previous committee was involved in a scam amounting to Rs 1.5 crore. In response to this revelation, the farmers insisted that the Mamlatdar office conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged scam before a new committee could be elected.
Subsequently, the Mamlatdar dissolved the existing committee and appointed an ad hoc committee to manage the association’s affairs. Despite repeated directives from the Mamlatdar to elect a permanent committee, the farmers refused until a proper investigation was conducted into the previous committee’s financial discrepancies.
In the last week of January, the Ponda Mamlatdar once again instructed the farmers to elect a new permanent committee on the 28th of the month. The rationale behind this directive was to have a committee in place that could address various issues faced by the farmers, including the repair of the sluice gates. Responding to the call, the farmers elected a new committee, marking the end of a nearly year-long hiatus in the association’s leadership.
With the new committee in place, the farmers are now eager to resume their agricultural activities. They emphasise the urgency of draining saline water from the fields and promptly repairing the sluice gates to facilitate the restart of farming operations.
