Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Bill passed in legislative council

Mumbai, Jul 7 (PTI) The Maharashtra legislative council on Tuesday unanimously passed the Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Bill aimed facilitating easy access for women farmers to government welfare schemes and institutional credit. The bill had been passed by the legislative assembly last week. It was tabled in the upper house by Agriculture Minister Dattatraya Bharne. According to its statement of objects and reasons, agricultural policies and schemes are largely gender-neutral. However, the requirement of land ownership as a precondition for access to most agricultural schemes has rendered such schemes inaccessible to many women farmers, since only a very small percentage of these women own agricultural land. As such, women who cultivate family or community land without holding formal titles to the land are often counted as agricultural labourers rather than farmers. Similarly, women who are engaged in allied non-cultivation-based activities such as fishing, collection of minor forest produce, poultry, animal husbandry, etc., are also not recognised as farmers. This systemic non-recognition of women farmers and their agricultural labour is significant and leads to other forms of exclusion including discrimination in access to schemes, credit and markets, the statement of objects said. "The government, therefore, considers it expedient to enact a new law to recognise women who are engaged in agriculture and allied activities as a woman farmer and to provide them a Woman Farmer Certificate which enables their access to entitlements, benefits, subsidies, services and credit, it said. The proposed law also has provisions to establish the Women Farmer Empowerment Council and Cell, State Monitoring Committee and Women Farmers Fund, the statement said. The bill provides for the constitution of the Maharashtra State Fund for Women Farmers. The fund shall be utilised for providing assistance for the welfare and development of women farmers and financing measures for their empowerment. The grants from the Central Government or State Government, as well as donations and other sources of funding, shall be credited to the fund. Speaking in the house during the discussion on the bill, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Ambadas Danve noted that while most women in rural areas are involved in farming, very few of them are farm owners, and the bill will provide encouragement to them. Bharne said the bill will recognise women farm labourers as farmers. Benefits will be extended to women farmers above the age of 18. Shiv Sena's Neelam Gorhe also welcomed the bill. PTI PR KRK