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Nagpur, Dec 7 (PTI) Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar of the Congress sought to corner the Eknath Shinde government in the assembly on Thursday over crop losses suffered by farmers due to recent unseasonal rains in parts of Maharashtra and demanded a loan waiver, while Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis listed steps taken to help cultivators.
Speaking in the lower house on the first day of the state legislature’s winter session in Nagpur, Wadettiwar claimed the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP (Ajit Pawar group) government has no time for farmers affected by recent unseasonal rains and water scarcity or drought in some parts of the state.
“The state government is spending more on its own events than helping farmers, who lost their crops due to unseasonal showers. Crop assessment reports are still pending, adding to farmers’ frustration,” said the Congress MLA.
He said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has not yet met affected farmers.
Marathwada, Vidarbha and north Maharashtra regions of the state were lashed by untimely showers last month, causing large-scale damage to crops.
Referring to a report of the National Crime Records Bureau released recently, Wadettiwar said “Maharashtra has become a hub of suicides because the state government has no time for farmers. The chief minister has not even gone to meet farmers to personally assure them help.” He demanded a blanket loan waiver for farmers reeling under crop losses.
“The state government should announce a flat loan waiver for farmers who have lost their crops in unseasonal showers. The government has announced drought only in 40 tehsils, when actual extent of devastation is far more than the government’s estimates,” said the Leader of Opposition.
“When we raised the issue, the state government hurriedly announced a scarcity-like situation in 1,021 mandals (an administrative unit). It also means these areas will not get financial assistance at par with tehsils declared as drought-hit,” said the former state minister.
Responding to Wadettiwar’s criticism, Deputy CM Fadnavis said the government has taken several measures to help cultivators.
“The Leader of Opposition has limited information about the steps we are taking to help farmers. The declaration of 40 tehsils as drought-hit is as per the Union government’s criteria. The state government has gone ahead and declared another 1,200 mandals as facing a scarcity-like situation. The affected farmers from these mandals will get financial aid at par with the Union government’s criteria,” said Fadnavis.
The government had earlier released a portion of the final financial assistance as advance to provide peasants an immediate relief, he said.
“We have disbursed Rs 10,000 crore to farmers in the past and also expanded the criteria for giving assistance up to three hectares as against earlier threshold of two hectares,” said the deputy CM.
Fadnavis said more farmers are being brought under the ambit of financial assistance by tweaking norms.
“The Maharashtra government earlier used to give financial assistance up to two hectares of crop losses. If the total area of crop loss was more than two hectares, farmers would not get any assistance for the surplus area. Now, cultivated land up to three hectares has been covered for providing relief. This will allow more farmers to seek assistance,” he added. PTI ND RSY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
