Nagpur (Maharashtra), March 8 (IANS): The beleaguered farming community of Maharashtra has demanded a waiver of crop loans accompanied by provision of health and food security in the forthcoming state budget, which is to be presented later this month, an activist said here on Sunday.

The Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti's (VJAS) list of demands came on the eve of the Budget Session of the legislature opening in Mumbai from Monday.

"Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar should consider extending benefits of the Antyodaya food subsidy and employment guarantee schemes which can help the distressed farmers in the state," VJAS president Kishore Tiwari said in a statement.

This year, around nine million farmers have suffered following spells of drought, unseasonal rains and hailstorm and other problems which resulted in massive crop failure.

"Coupled with old and new debts, the successive crop failures and family responsibilities, many farmers have committed suicide. In the budget, we are hoping the government will put forth some concrete proposals to benefit the farmers," Tiwari told IANS.

The hopes from the state budget are especially high since the farmers were disappointed after finding no announcement for the farm sector in the Union Budget presented last week, he observed.

This year, the Maharashtra government has acknowledged that of the 39,453 villages in the state, a whopping 24,810 are drought hit, adding to the farmers' woes, the activist added.