and officials of the Market Committee. There was not a single vacant chair. After different persons had spoken Shankarrao Wagh loudly announced that “Joshisaheb should speak now.” Suddenly all eyes turned in his direction. Even the Collector made some anxious movements. He had heard about Joshi and his background. He immediately called for three more chairs in the front for Joshi and his colleagues. Joshi came forward, stood before the gathering and began his speech. Even the local politicians and others who had totally neglected his presence till that minute began to listen in rapt attention. When they saw that Collector himself was giving special attention to Joshi they too had to show interest. Joshi powerfully made his normal points and concluding his speech, said in very emotional words, ‘When there is a famine, this government forcibly takes away certain portion of the farmer’s crop as levy at a very low rate. Why can’t the same government come to the rescue of the farmer in his hour of dire need? Why can’t the government ensure that farmer gets at least enough to cover his production cost? Doesn’t government feel that the farmer should at least survive?’ After Joshi sat down there was complete silence. Everyone was stunned. Collector was also quite impressed with Joshi’s passionate speech of about ten minutes. While concluding the meeting, he agreed to the demand and said he would recommend the higher price to his seniors. He did that the same day. Soon Government announced that it would purchase the onion at the rate of Rs. 45 to 50 per quintal through NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India). Without resorting to the rasta roko, the first agitation of the farmers was successful. After that, the local politicians began to detest Joshi even more. All that while they had ridiculed Joshi’s attempts to Onions in Chakan : First Spark
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101
