Farmers slam govt relief as ‘sham’ amid Marathwada flood crisis

After losing their homes, standing crops and cattle, and left with fields rendered infertile by waterlogging, farmers say the government, their only source of relief, is offering compensation with too many strings attached

MUMBAI: Rebuilding their lives after the devastation wrought by the recent floods in Marathwada is proving more painful than the farmers had imagined. After losing their homes, standing crops and cattle, and left with fields rendered infertile by waterlogging, farmers say the government, their only source of relief, is offering compensation with too many strings attached.

Beed, India. Sep 28, 2025 - Sakharam Shinde, a resident of Vadvani village in Beed district, lost crops due to heavy rain and floods in the area. Severe rainfall has caused flooding in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region, resulting in two fatalities and the evacuation of over 11,500 residents. Beed, India. Sep 28, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

Mincing no words is farmer leader Raju Shetti, president of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, “The compensation package is a sham,” he alleged. Although the state had announced a seemingly robust compensation package of ₹31,628 crore a week ago, the eligibility criteria are so stringent that it exposes the government’s hollow intentions, farmers claim.

Moreover, farmers say they feel betrayed by what they see as an attempt to pass off routine spending as compensation. They point out that most of the funds to be released were already included in the budgetary outlay, which means the government was to spend the money anyway.

Relief package

Besides the ₹31,628-crore relief package announced last week, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced a ₹10,000 increase in ex-gratia. This will be given over and above the ex-gratia under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF), which ranges between ₹8,500 and ₹22,500 a hectare, depending on the type of land and crop affected.

Fadnavis also announced cash assistance for submerged households, hawkers and small traders, as well as compensation for the loss of cattle. In addition, he said, farmers would receive ₹30,000 for wells damaged in the floods; ₹3.47 lakh per acre for fields whose topsoil had been washed away. Of the ₹3.47 lakh, ₹3 lakh would come in the form of restoration work under the National Employment Guarantee scheme.

More than 3 million farmers sustained crop losses on 6.5 million hectares across the state. The government, until Thursday, had released just ₹1,800 crore in relief, leaving the majority of affected farmers high and dry.

Farmers say that the 3-hectare cap on land holdings (under NDRF), to qualify for compensation, has automatically eliminated a large number of affected farmers. In addition, funds for the restoration of eroded fields have been allotted under the National Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS). How is that compensation, they ask.

Shuffling funds

Raju Shetti said the government should follow compensation criteria during the 2019 floods in Kolhapur and Sangli. “The current package is a sham, none of it translates on ground. Farmers are being given ₹8,500 a hectare, instead of ₹18,500 as announced,” he said .

He said the government has announced ₹3 lakh per acre for fields whose topsoil has been destroyed by the floods. “The funds are to come from the EGS, but it doesn’t seem likely that the money will be disbursed effectively as the labour bills of the EGS have been pending for a year. Moreover, under EGS, money will be disbursed only to farmers who have job cards under the scheme, which greatly limits the number of farmers who can benefit,” he added.

Farm activist Vijay Jawandhia is of the same view. “After you take the stringent criteria and other conditions into account and do the math, the farmers will receive about ₹10,000 crore from the total compensation package,” he says.

“While announcing the relief package, the government did not provide a break-up. It includes ₹10,000 crore towards infrastructure development, ₹7,000 crore against crop insurance payout and ₹3.5 lakh an acre for soil-eroded lands. This expenditure was budgeted for and was to be spent anyway. How can it be included in the package,” he questioned.

Jawandia said Fadnavis claims the government is extending all the benefits given to farmers during drought, but nothing is visible on ground. “During drought, loan repayment is deferred, existing loans are restructured, and fresh loans are immediately disbursed. But, here, the farmers are getting little or nothing. They are compelled to take loans from private money lenders at inflated rates,” he said.

Vinita Vaid Singhal, principal secretary, relief and rehabilitation, said the government has completed its assessment of losses. “About 30 lakh farmers have suffered crop losses on over 65 lakh hectares and we have started releasing funds. There will be a revision in assessment claims for farmers who suffered losses again in September and October after getting the ex-gratia for losses in August. They will also get the difference between the old norms and revised norms. We are paying an additional ₹10,000 over and above NDRF norms for ex-gratia with the compensation being paid to the farmers.”

Bharat Bastewad, commissioner, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, said the criteria for relief will not be amended. “Farmers with land holding of up to 2 hectares (under EGS) will be eligible for restoration benefits due to soil erosion, and they will need to produce job cards required under the EGS. The scheme is not meant for farmers with sizable holdings.”

He added, “Since we are counting the eroded soil, and not the total land holding, the compensation will include more farmers. Similarly, farmers who have no job cards can get them in just a day to avail the benefits. The norms for wells that have been damaged are the same.”