Maharashtra: ₹31k-crore relief for rain-hit farmers: CM

The state exchequer is burdened but we have decided to utilise all resources to help farmers, the chief minister said

MUMBAI: The state government on Tuesday announced a package of ₹31,628 crore for farmers affected by the August-September floods which battered 253 of 354 talukas in 29 districts, damaging crops on over 68.70 lakh hectares. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the package could not compensate farmers 100% but it was an attempt to help them get back on their feet again.

29 districts have been affected by the floods that recently battered Marathwada and western Maharashtra, impacting hundreds of thousands of farmers. (Raju Shinde/ HT Photo)

Calling it a “historic” package and “the highest ever”, Fadnavis said that ₹17,675 crore was the actual compensation for crop losses, ₹3,000 crore was for the farmlands that had been washed away while the remainder was from various other schemes such as crop insurance and land restoration works under the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS). Farmers’ leaders and the opposition attacked his government for this, saying that the actual compensation was very meagre.

Fadnavis’ government has also relaxed the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) norms by extending the upper cap for compensation to three hectares from two hectares and adding ₹10,000 a hectare in the ex-gratia payment to facilitate the planting of rabi crops. NDRF norms give compensation of ₹8,500 per hectare for crop losses on rain-fed land, ₹17,000 per hectare for irrigated crops and ₹22,500 for perennial crops.

“Over 60,000 acres of land has been washed away and it will require a lot of effort to make it cultivable again. We are giving ₹47,000 per hectare for the restoration apart from ₹300,000 per hectare from EGS funds,” Fadnavis said. He added that the government had already disbursed ₹2,200 crore in terms of ₹10,000 per submerged household and other compensation for the loss of lives and cattle. He also announced a spend of ₹10,000 crore on infra reconstruction, including roads and buildings damaged in the floods.

Fadnavis said the government would ensure that the ex-gratia relief reached farmers before Diwali. “The state exchequer is burdened but we have decided to utilise all resources to help farmers by reappropriating the budget and diverting funds meant for some other schemes,” he said.

Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde appealed to the flood-hit farmers not to take any extreme steps. The other deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar, said that the government was ready to change policies and the package if need be.

Fadnavis said that the package was greater than the one applicable to a ‘wet drought’, which entails an exemption in revenue taxes, restructuring of crop loans, a ban on recovery of farm loans and exemption from school and college fees. “We are committed to giving the farm loan waiver announced before the assembly elections last year,” he said. “It will be done at the appropriate time.” The chief minister added that his government would also submit a comprehensive proposal for financial assistance to the central government.

Ajit Nawale, state general secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha (ABKS), said that the relief package was mostly a consolidation of ongoing schemes. “ ₹6,500 crore given for the rabi season is the only new provision, while the remaining amount is a compilation of current schemes,” he said. “The crop insurance payout, for instance, is an independent ongoing scheme for which farmers themselves have paid the premium. Similarly, the spending from the EGS is a diversion of the funds allocated in the state and central budgets.”

Debunking Fadnavis’ statement that the Maharashtra package was “the most lucrative” and higher than those given by Punjab, Karnataka and other flood-affected states, Nawale pointed out, “The Punjab government has given ₹50,00 a hectare against our government’s package of ₹18,500 a hectare.” The ABKS has also demanded a complete loan waiver and ₹30,000 to farm labourers as compensation apart from a hike in the ex gratia to ₹50,000 a hectare.

Maharashtra Congress chief Harshavardhan Sakpal called the relief package “very meagre”. “Over 300 talukas in 30 districts have been flood-hit, yet the government is offering peanuts,” he said. “It should have provided ₹50,000 per hectare, and ₹500,000 per hectare for completely damaged farmland. It is quick to approve proposals related to Gautam Adani but when it comes to farmers, the CM offers only a symbolic handshake.”