Maha govt not taking concrete steps to help rain-hit farmers, says Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party NCP president Sharad Pawar on Monday said the Eknath ShindeBharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra has failed to take concrete measures to help cultivators who have incurred heavy losses due to rains in parts of the stateThe former Union agriculture minister interacted with farmers in his home district of Pune to understand their grievances and losses faced by them due to heavy rainfallTalking to farmers in Purandar tehsil Pawar rued the state government was not ready to take concrete measures for cultivators who incurred heavy losses due to downpourPune has received unusually high amount of rains in OctoberAlso read Andhra Pradesh 36 ebikes gutted in motor showroom fireDuring the interaction the NCP leader empathized with farmers and told them he understood their pains and problems and assured to make efforts to get reliefFarmers have incurred losses because of heavy rains The government should take some concrete steps to steer them out of this situation However the present government is not ready to take these kinds of measures The Centre has also been apprised of the situation on ground but no concrete decision has been taken Pawar saidHe further said the state government recently announced a complete waiver for farmers who have taken loans from Bhuvikas Bank but sought to know how many agriculturists have availed of credit from the lenderThe state government has announced a loan waiver of Rs 964 crore from Bhuvikas Bank among other measures taken for development of the agriculture sectorTwo to three days ago the state government announced a complete waiver for farmers who have taken loans from Bhuvikas Bank Tell me in the last 10 years has anyone here referring to farmers present at interaction taken a loan from Bhuvikas Bank Do you even know whether Bhuvikas Bank exists Pawar saidThe bank used to be there but its loans had been defaulted for the last 25 to 30 years Nobody goes for recovery of loans So after realising that loans cannot be recovered they have waived them he saidThe NCP chief further said if help needs to be given to farmers who are in crisis the rules must be kept aside and people in power should prioritise cultivators who have lost their crops due to heavy showersWhile the groundwater levels have increased because of heavy rainfall and it will remain so for another two years the state government should pay for the current losses We will take efforts for the same and if needed we will agitate Pawar saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever