Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday (3 November 2019) approved Rs. 10,000 crore as compensation to the farmers who have suffered crop damages due to unseasonal rainfall in the state.
Chairing a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee on 2 November 2019, Maharashtra CM asked the local administration to prepare a “damage” report. Fadnavis directed that farmers from those places where the system is not accessible be permitted to upload photographs from mobile phones as proof of damage. He said crop-wise reimbursement will be decided as early as “damage” report is received and the amount of reimbursement would be transferred to the farmers’ account directly.
Fadnavis after the meeting said, “We will send a prospect report to the Central Government requesting financial held to redress this calamity. However, the State government will not solely depend on this & will provide financial support from its own fund. Around 50 lakh cultivators are crop insured in Maharashtra. Insurance companies should also help them immediately".
Senior members of the committee informed that damages will be paid crop-wise, connected to fruit crop damages, among others. A member said, “This is a crucial situation. Hence, decision was taken to give maximum help to the farmers. As soon as zonal crop damage report is obtained, reimbursement for each crop will be decided and a final decision in this regard will be taken in the days to come. Utilizing human resources from the revenue & agriculture departments, agriculture colleges & animal husbandry were also discussed".
Other eminent people who attended the meeting included Agriculture Minister Dr. Anil Bonde, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, Water Irrigation Minister Girish Mahajan and Animal Husbandry Minister Mahadev Jankar.
According to initial assessment, crops on 54.22 lakh hectares spread across 325 talukas in at least half dozen districts have been destroyed. The damaged crops include paddy, jawar, cotton & soyabean.
