Maharashtra announces Rs 31,628-crore flood relief package for farmers

To make a provision for disbursing the Rs 31628crore relief package before Diwali for floodaffected farmers and their families the Maharashtra government will need to divert funds from other departments and might even have to temporarily slow down on some development projectsChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis along with two deputies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar explained the grimness of the situation on the ground due to the destruction caused by heavy rainfall in Marathwada Vidarbha North and Western Maharashtra regions with the Marathwada and Western Maharashtra regions suffering the mostWhile announcing the relief and rehabilitation package in Mantralaya on Tuesday Fadnavis candidly admitted that funds would have to be diverted from some departments for the sake of the Rs 31628crore relief package which he termed as the biggest in the history of Maharashtra ldquoWhile planning the budget one did not know that rain would cause such massive destruction Funds from other departments will have to be adjusted to meet the unplanned expenditure which is mandatory to bail out farmers amid the current crisisrdquo he saidEarlier this year while presenting the budget the state government projected that the debt for the financial year 202526 would be Rs 932 lakh crore which is said to be the highest in the history of Maharashtra The CM mentioned that during the winter session of the state legislature to be held in Nagpur in December the government would take a call on how to adjust the amount and from which department ldquoThe reappropriation will be done during the December Assembly sessionrdquo Fadnavis saidThe heavy rain and flood waters have washed away standing crops homes belongings and livestock According to government records 29 out of the 36 districts and 253 talukas suffered due to heavy rains In fact sowing had taken place on over a total of 143 lakh hectares of land at the start of the monsoon Of this over 68 lakh hectares of land have been damaged ldquoNearly 60000 hectares of farmland were damaged due to the top layers of soil getting washed awayrdquo the CM mentionedAssuring that every affected farmer and his family would be bailed out by the government Fadnavis reiterated that the relief package would be disbursed before Diwali and houses that were 100 per cent damaged would be reconstructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas YojanaExplaining that the announced package by Maharashtra was higher than those announced by states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Fadnavis said ldquoWe are not in a race or comparing relief packages But this is the highest compensation in the history of Maharashtrardquo The government has placed a cap of three hectares for compensationCentrersquos supportStating that the Government of India GoI had assured full support to farmers the CM said that the proposal for the relief package had not yet been sent to the Union government ldquoMaharashtra has already started disbursing the relief package Once the proposal is sent to GoI no changes can be made to the same Hence the draft document is being prepared carefully and once finalised will be shared with the Centre The amount spent by the state government will later be reimbursed by the GoIrdquo he addedOpposition SpeakMeanwhile the Opposition parties slammed the government for allegedly not meeting the expectations of affected farmers Senior Congress leader and former leader of the Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar said ldquoThe relief package instead of enabling farmers to stand back on their feet will push them into loan and debt trapsrdquoThe Congress leader also reminded the Mahayuti mdash comprising the BJP Eknath Shindeled Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawarrsquos NCP faction mdash to honour the loan waiver promise it had made during the 2024 Assembly election campaign ldquoFarmers are in crisis This is when they need all kinds of support Therersquos no better time than now to implement the loan waiverrdquo Wadettiwar saidClyde Crasto national spokesperson of the Sharad Pawarled Nationalist Congress Party NCP questioned the timing of the announcement ldquoThe report damage survey was ready but the BJPled government was waiting for the arrival of Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Maharashtrardquo he said