Vilasrao Deshmukh to visit Yavatmal

Yavatmal, Feb 26 (UNI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is scheduled to visit Yavatmal tomorrow.

The Chief Minister will arrive here by helicopter from his hometown Latur at 0915 hrs. Immediately on arrival, he will hold a public meeting at the Goverment Circuit House at 0930 hrs.

Thereafter, he will address the officers at the local Bachat Bhavan, where the governmet-sponsored Late Vasantrao Naik Sethkari Swavalmbi Mission Programme will be discussed and instructions will be given to the officers to spearhead the project, to fish out the farmers in the debt trap and make them self-reliant.

The Chief Minister will inaugurate the newly constructed auditorium in the Late Shri Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College. He will address the farmers' rally at the local Azad Maidan, which is the concluding function of the Kisan Jagaran Rath Yatra organised under the auspices of Yavatmal District Congress Committee headed by Manikrao Thakre.

MPCC President Prabha Rau will also preside over the function.

Then, Mr Deshmukh will proceed to Ralegaon where he will inaugurate the All India Chhatrapati Shivaji Gold Trophy Kabbadi Tournament at the Priyadarshini Indira Gandhi Krida Nagari and address the gathering, organised under the joint auspices of Govt of Maharashtra and Vidarbha Kabbadi Association.

Since it is his maiden visit to the district after announcing the Vidarbha package of Rs 1,075 crore on the floor of the State Assembly during the Winter Session in Nagpur on December 19 last, his visit is keenly observed by the farmers, as he is expected to announce certain important schemes for the uplift of debt-ridden farmers.

It is pertinent to note that Yavatmal has seen the heighst rate of farmers' suicides due to crop failure and debt burden and it has become the focus of national and international media.

The opposition parties and the NGOs working for the uplift of the toiling masses in the region were up in arms against the governmet's anti-farmers policies and they had already declared their programmes to protest the CM's visit sans any sign of effective solution to the spate of suicide of debt-ridden farmers.

The Chief Minister has a compact schedule and it is to be seen how the opposition would be able to meet the Chief Minister accompanied by a dozen ministers to submit a memorandum of demands including issues like load shedding, farmers' suicide, non-payment of governement aids to the next of kin of the deceased farmers and non- payment of the package benefits to the farmers till date.

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