Maharashtra Leader of the Opposition Ajit Pawar on Thursday demanded that the State government immediately announce a relief of ₹75,000 per hectare to farmers in rain-hit districts of the State. The NCP leader also urged Chief Minister Eknath Shinde not to take decisions sitting in Mumbai.
Mr. Pawar, who is on a four-day tour of Vidarbha and Marathwada regions affected by torrential rain in the past fortnight, was speaking to reporters after surveying rain-hit villages in Gadchiroli and Chandrapur districts. He said about 25,000 hectares of cropland in Gadchiroli and 63,000 hectares in Chandrapur bore the brunt of the damage. A staggering 10 lakh hectares of cropland had been affected in these regions, he said.
“The CM ought to declare a ‘wet famine’ across the State and summon a special session of the Assembly to address the plight of farmers. Fifteen taluks in Chandrapur have suffered extensive damage with entire harvests of soybean, tur, cotton and grains being washed away,” the NCP leader said.
‘Appoint Guardian Ministers’
Earlier, Mr. Pawar had criticised the inordinate delay in forming the new Cabinet. He said there was no one to guide and monitor the relief work as no Guardian Ministers had been appointed for the districts.
He had also written to the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, urging them to swiftly provide compensation to farmers and not discriminate against those who had not repaid old loans.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shinde said while the Cabinet expansion was imminent, both he and Mr. Fadnavis would leave no stone unturned to provide succour to the rain-hit farmers. Mr. Shinde had taken stock of the situation in Gadchiroli by visiting the affected villages soon after assuming charge on June 30.
Following a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he had announced that the government would offer an incentive of ₹50,000 to farmers who had repaid their debts for two consecutive years. He alleged that the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government had rendered farmers who had met this criterion ineligible for the incentive. However, the new government has decided to extend this bonus to all farmers, Mr. Shinde said.
