State announces ₹10,000-cr relief for rain-affected farmers

60L farmers, 70L hectares land may be affected, say revised estimates

Crop damage due to unseasonal rain may impact 70 lakh hectares (ha) of agricultural land in Maharashtra, according to fresh estimates. With kharif crop being sowed across a total of approximately 140 lakh ha, this means 50% of crops may be damaged. The damage was discussed during a cabinet sub-committee meeting convened by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday.

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Cyclonic conditions have led to unseasonal rainfall, which has severely hit cotton and soya bean crops across 325 tehsils. “With fresh reports coming in, the extent of damage of crop is going up to 70 lakh ha. Around 60 lakh farmers are likely to be affected with the natural calamity,” said Kishorraje Nimbalkar, secretary, state relief and rehabilitation department.

The cabinet sub-committee meeting decided that the state would seek financial assistance from the Centre and announced a ₹10,000-crore relief package for the 60 lakh affected farmers. The state will not wait for Central funds to start releasing compensation.

“The extent of damage is really high. We want to extend maximum help to the farmers. A general view was that the compensation should be more than the existing norms. Based on the primary reports, the cabinet sub-committee has decided to allocate funds of ₹10,000 crore,” Fadnavis said.

The chief minister also said that the process of completing panchnamas (surveys) is underway and would be completed in the next few days. “The farmers will have to send photos to the agriculture officer and based on the photo, panchnama will be conducted to ascertain the actual loss,” said the relief and rehabilitation secretary. The compensation amount would be decided only after the actual extent of damage is known.

While the chief minister will visit affected areas in Akola today, Union home minister Amit Shah has said a team from the Centre to assess losses in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will visit Aurangabad district today and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, who visited some villages in Nashik on Friday, has directed all district presidents of NCP to compile and send reports on crop damage to the party’s headquarters by Sunday.

State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, “They have declared an amount of ₹10,000 crore as compensation this time but have yet to receive a single penny out of ₹6,800 crore sought from the Centre for relief measures to drought-affected farmers.”