PM promises financial help to farmers

Manmohan said that the central and state Govts were working on a package for improving their conditions.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said that the Centre and Maharashtra government would evolve a package for farmers aimed at improving their financial conditions and reducing the debt burden.

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"The Centre, along with the State, will try to find a solution to this problem. The remedy cannot be immediate but the situation will certainly improve," he said.

The Prime Minister, who is on a two-day tour of Vidarbha, said that the package was being planned for farmers in the region, which would aim at improving irrigation facilities and offer opportunities to earn alternate sources of income that would go along with their primary source of livelihood.

In one of his first meetings with families of farmers who committed suicide in Amravati district, the Prime Minister acknowledged that debt was a big problem faced by farmers.

He also promised to try and provide some relief to them before he concluded his two-day tour.