Marathwada Must Fight For Economic Self-Reliance: Ram Bhogale

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: “As a young man, I believed agriculture deserved priority and industry deserved less. Annasaheb Shinde, the former Union Minister of State, changed that belief. Had fertilisers, seeds, pesticides and processing industries not grown, it would have been impossible to feed a rising population. If you want agriculture to grow, industry must grow first,” said senior industrialist Ram Bhogale.

He was speaking as the chief guest at a special edition of the ‘UDYAM — Viksit Marathwada’ mission, organised by CASMB (Chamber for Advancement of Small and Medium Businesses) at MIT, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, to mark Marathwada Mukti Sangram Din on Thursday. Across five sessions through the day, one theme remained clear: after political liberation, Marathwada must now fight a battle for economic self-reliance.

Recalling his 1983 meeting with Annasaheb Shinde, Bhogale said, “There is plenty of food on our plates today. Students must read about whose labour lies behind that. Without understanding this, they will never understand the relationship between farming and industry.”

Bhogale was blunt about how government schemes are implemented on the ground. “Budget allocations for these schemes are large. But where exactly does that money go, and does the benefit reach those who genuinely need it? To pocket the subsidy without building the enterprise is this society’s great regret,” he said.

In his introductory address, CASMB Secretary General Dr Umesh Kamble announced the mission’s core commitment. “To root entrepreneurship in Marathwada, we will hold such programmes every two months, and this initiative will run without a break for five years. Nobody will come from outside to start your business; you will have to build it yourself,” he said.

In a video message, Dr Soumya Swaminathan of MSSRF stressed women farmers, nutrition-led agriculture, organic production and value addition. She also welcomed the partnership with CASMB to create rural entrepreneurs among young women and men.