A DAY after a video showing a farmer’s wife yoking herself to a plow went viral, the Maharashtra Government on Wednesday handed over a bull to the family to replace their deceased draft animal. Kashinath Gaikwad, a farmer from Bombli Khurd village in Deoni tehsil of Latur district, lost one of his two bulls to a lightning strike on June 5. A viral video showed the couple plowing a field with his wife Housabai pulling one end of the plow, as they could not afford to buy or hire another animal.

 

NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Tuesday shared the video, stating that it showed the plight of the average farmer in Maharashtra. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed his office to take urgent action to provide relief to the couple, a Government release said. On Wednesday, Animal Husbandry Department arranged a replacement bull and handed it over to the Gaikwad family, it said. Compensation under the State Disaster Response Fund was also approved for the family by completing required formalities, it said. Housabai Gaikwad thanked the Government for its intervention, the release added.