21 June,2023 08:08 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic. iStock
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced the release of a fresh tranche of financial assistance of Rs 1,500 crore for farmers in the state who lost their crops due to heavy rains during the year 2022 monsoon season, reported the PTI.
As many as 26,50,951 farmers will get Rs 1,500 crore worth of compensation for loss of crops over 15.96 lakh hectares of land, said an official statement issued by the state's relief and rehabilitation department, according to the PTI.
These farmers could not get financial assistance earlier due to technical reasons, it said.
A decision to compensate the cultivators who could not receive aid in the earlier rounds of disbursement due to technical reasons was taken at the state cabinet meeting held on June 13, said the statement.
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Meanwhile, in April, the Maharashtra cabinet had said that the unseasonal rains will be considered a natural calamity in the state.
A statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) had said that terming unseasonal rains a natural calamity will help the administration to provide relief to agriculturists whose crops have been damaged due to untimely rain.
Talking to reporters after attending the weekly cabinet meeting, Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar had in April said that the continous rains of 10 mm for a minimum of five days and losses of more than 33 per cent will be eligible for aid. Due to this decision, farmers will not be deprived of assistance due to the lack of criteria.
Crops of several farmers were damaged in unseasonal rains and hailstorms in Maharashtra. The Opposition had demanded that the state government give immediate relief to the affected farmers.
Earlier, in March, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had ordered that immediate relief be given to the farmers whose crops were damaged due to the unseasonal rains that hit parts of the state.
The chief minister had asked that a panchnama be carried out to assess the damages and the affected farmers be compensated immediately.
Pertinently, earlier this year too, the unseasonal rains had lashed several parts of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Washim, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pune, and Ahmednagar.
(with PTI inputs)
