Nagpur: The Maharashtra Government has doubled the aid to farmers affected due to excessive rainfall and floods since June this year. Even the maximum area for which the Government shall provide aid to farmers has been increased from two hectares to three hectares.
Due to heavy rainfall this year, several parts of Maharashtra have reported massive crop damage. In many areas, especially Nagpur Division, flood water has washed away the fertile layer of soil from farms. Water-logging in farms has damaged the crops. Against this backdrop, there was a demand to extend increased aid to the affected farmers.
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Thursday 19 Dec. 2024
Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister, and Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister, visited several affected areas and assured help to farmers. Accordingly, in the State Cabinet meeting, a decision was taken to increase the amount of compensation to flood-hit farmers. On Monday, the Revenue and Forest Department issued a Government Resolution (GR) in this regard. As per the GR, the compensation for loss of rainfed crops has been increased from Rs 6,800 per hectare to Rs 13,600 per hectare; that for irrigated crops has been raised from Rs 13,500 per hectare to Rs 27,000 per hectare; and aid for multi-year or horticulture crops has been raised from Rs 18,000 per hectare to Rs 36,000 per hectare.
The maximum area for which aid would be provided has been increased from two hectares to three. The increased aid shall be applicable for the Kharif agricultural season from June to October 2022. The aid shall be extended in the form of input subsidy. The administration has been asked to conduct panchnama, finalise the number of beneficiaries, and then only release the amount of aid directly into the bank account of the beneficiaries.
As per the data with the administration, Nagpur Division has suffered damage to cotton crop in 2.48 lakh hectare area, apart from damage to soybean crop in 1.26 lakh hectare, Tur in 49,000 hectare, and paddy in 55,000 hectare. The panchnama of crop loss has been completed till July-end, but that caused by rains in August is yet to be completed. Last weekend, Abdul Sattar, Agriculture Minister, asked the administration to submit the report in seven days.
