A preparatory meeting of several farmers' organisations to form the SKM in Maharashtra was held in Mumbai on 24 July. The meeting decided to hold a large convention on 31 August in Mumbai which will declare the formation of the SKM Maharashtra chapter.
The meeting also decided to launch a campaign in August to observe 9 August Quit India Day as Anti-Corporate Day, 14 August as the eve of Independence Day with public meetings and cultural programmes, and 15 August as Independence Day with large local processions with the Tricolour.
In September and October, padayatras and jathas will take the SKM message and demands to the grassroots. From 26-28 November, a massive three day and three night joint Mahapadav by the SKM and the Central Trade Unions (CTUs) will be held in Mumbai.
An 11 member coordination committee of the SKM, comprising 11 major farmers' organisations, was unanimously elected in this meeting. They include the AIKS, Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha, Shetkari Sabha, NAPM, Lok Sangharsh Morcha, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Satyashodhak Shetkari Sabha, Sarvahara Jan Andolan, Maharashtra Rajya Shramik Shetkari Sabha, Kashtakari Sanghatana, and Samajwadi Kisan Sabha.
Many other organisations have agreed to join the SKM. Their representatives will be included in the State Council of the SKM.
To prepare the resolution and demands of the 31 August state convention of the SKM, a 10 member committee was elected, which comprised Prof S V Jadhav, Pratap Hogade, Pratibha Shinde, Dr Ajit Nawale, Rajan Kshirsagar, Ulka Mahajan, Kishor Dhamale, Yuvraj Gatkal, Subhash Kakuste, and Seema Kulkarni.
The meeting was presided over by Dr Ashok Dhawale of the AIKS, who placed the decisions of the SKM at the national level. The concluding speech was by Jayant Patil, MLC, of the Shetkari Sabha.
The meeting was attended by Prof S V Jadhav, Rajendra Korde and Borhade Patil of the Shetkari Sabha, Umesh Deshmukh, Dr Uday Narkar, Kisan Gujar and Dr Bhausaheb Zirpe of the AIKS, Rajan Kshirsagar, Bansi Satpute and Ashok Sonarkar of the Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha, Pratibha Shinde of the Lok Sangharsh Morcha, Ulka Mahajan of the Sarvahara Jan Andolan, Yuvraj Gatkal of the NAPM, Kishor Dhamale of the Satyashodhak Shetkari Sabha, Vijay Kulkarni of the Shramik Shetkari Sanghatana, Pratap Hogade and Prabhakar Narkar of the Maharashtra Electricity Consumers Association, Rahul Gaikwad and Anis Ahmed of the Samajwadi Kisan Sabha, Anil Tyagi of the AIKKMS, and Shobha Karande and Manisha Patil of the Saguna Organisation.
