Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced a financial aid of Rs 20,000 per hectare for farmers affected by unseasonal rainfall and revealed plans to reconstitute a task force to prevent farmer suicides. Shinde emphasized the government’s commitment to supporting farmers during challenging times and promoting positive agricultural growth in the state. Over the past 18 months, the government disbursed more than Rs 44,278 crore to farmers, addressing damages caused by drought, heavy rain, hailstorm, unseasonal rainfall, and floods.
The relief and rehabilitation department, agriculture department, and cooperation department allocated Rs 14,891 crore, Rs 15,040 crore, and Rs 5,190 crore, respectively, to assist farmers. Additional funds were allocated through the marketing department (Rs 5,114 crore), food and civil supply department (Rs 3,800 crore), and animal husbandry department (Rs 234 crore). Shinde acknowledged the severity of farmer suicides, particularly in Vidarbha and Marathwada, and announced the reconstitution of a task force to address this critical issue.
Furthermore, Shinde revealed plans for the formation of Mahabank for onions, aiming to utilize nuclear power for a pilot onion irradiation project. This initiative aims to benefit onion farmers by preserving onions and mitigating the impact of shortages caused by natural calamities. Shinde informed that a central government team inspected drought-affected talukas, and the state government requested financial assistance of Rs 2,587 crore for farmers in the 40 declared drought-hit talukas. He urged the opposition not to politicize the farmer issue.
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