Declare drought, give ₹50k/ha aid to farmers, ₹25k to farm labour families: Sharad Pawar tells CM

Pawar said inadequate rainfall had damaged standing soybean, cotton, bajra, maize, tur, moong and urad crops in 31 of the 36 districts across the state, while pest and disease attacks had also increased. The situation could further aggravate problems related to drinking water and fodder, he warned

Mumbai: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday demanded that the Maharashtra government declare a drought in the state to tackle the impact of deficient rainfall due to the prevalence of the El Nino effect. In a three-page letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the former union agriculture minister sought at least ₹50,000 per hectare for farmers and ₹25,000 for every farm-labour family, besides an immediate farm loan waiver and fresh crop loans.

Sharad Pawar (HT Photo)

The government should not wait for formal drought assessment criteria when several parts of the state are already facing severe conditions, he said, referring to the official survey to assess crop damage as per National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) guidelines, scheduled to begin on October 5.

Pawar said inadequate rainfall had damaged standing soybean, cotton, bajra, maize, tur, moong and urad crops in 31 of the 36 districts across the state, while pest and disease attacks had also increased. The situation could further aggravate problems related to drinking water and fodder, he warned.

“Drought should be declared immediately without waiting for formal criteria,” Pawar said in his letter, demanding that talukas facing severe conditions be declared drought-affected and all applicable drought concessions be implemented such talukas.

He also sought direct financial assistance to cushion the impact of the drought on the rural economy. “Farmers should be provided assistance of at least ₹50,000 per hectare, while each farm labour family should be given special assistance of ₹25,000,” he demanded.

Pawar pressed the government to address the growing debt burden on farmers, seeking both a loan waiver and access to fresh institutional credit. “The loan waiver scheme should be implemented immediately and crop loans should be made available without delay,” he stressed.

He also sought an increase in the incentive for farmers who regularly repay their loans ranging ₹50,000-100,000, besides including farmers who availed crop loans in 2025-26 and had become defaulters this year in the proposed loan-waiver scheme.

On crop insurance, Pawar demanded retrospective implementation of the ₹1 premium scheme and restoration of farmer-friendly triggers that had earlier been excluded. He also sought immediate disbursal of the ₹17,000 per hectare assistance announced for crop losses caused by unseasonal rains last year.

“Special schemes should be implemented through the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) in drought-like areas, including agriculture and water-conservation works,” Pawar said, adding that tanker arrangements should also be made to protect orchards.

He demanded immediate surveys of villages facing drinking-water shortages and deployment of government tankers wherever necessary. Fodder camps should be opened based on demand, while drinking water and veterinary services should be ensured for livestock, he said.

Citing data to underline the severity of the situation in the state’s agricultural regions, Pawar said that Marathwada had recorded a 69% shortfall in rainfall during June-August, followed by 61% in Vidarbha, 33% in Konkan, and up to 28% in parts of western and northern Maharashtra.

Rainfall deficit coincided with a contraction in the area under sowing in some regions, according to data cited by Pawar. In Vidarbha, the area sown till the end of August fell from 50.04 lakh hectares last year to around 47.5 lakh hectares this year, whereas in Marathwada, the sown area dropped from 48.21 lakh hectares to 46.19 lakh hectares over the same period.

Pawar further cited World Meteorological Organisation data to flag the possibility of the El Niño phenomenon exerting a greater impact in the coming years, saying its effects could become more pronounced from 2027.

He also flagged the possibility of worsening power-supply problems, seeking a special drive by the energy department to complete repairs of faulty transformers and prevent prolonged load-shedding.

According to a presentation made before the state cabinet on Tuesday, as many as 20 of Maharashtra’s 36 districts recorded a rainfall deficit of at least 20% during the monsoon and many areas did not receive any rain for more than 30 consecutive days, damaging Kharif crops and worsening the water crisis. Affected districts included six out of eight districts in the drought-prone Marathwada region, and four out of five districts in the Amravati division, a farmer suicide prone area, the presentation said.