MUMBAI :

 

MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday announced that crop damage assessment will be extended to the mandal (circle) level to ensure financial assistance to farmers in areas excluded from the prescribed drought criteria. Addressing reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Fadnavis said special provisions were approved to ensure farmers suffering genuine crop losses receive Government aid even if their regions fail to meet standard prescribed drought thresholds. As many as 265 of Maharashtra’s 358 talukas, constituting around 74 per cent of the State, have been declared as drought-affected. The Government has said crop-loss assessments will determine the financial assistance to affected farmers. Fadnavis said several Ministers had raised the issue in the State Cabinet that crops were damaged in certain areas that did not meet the prescribed criteria, and demanded financial assistance for farmers from these regions.

 

He assured that the Government has decided toexamine such cases even if some of the drought criteria are not fulfilled. “This year’s situation is unusual. There was heavy rainfall during the first two months and no rains in the following two months,” Fadnavis said. He said the Government wouldundertake a more extensive assessment in such talukas, till the mandal (circle) level, and provide drought-related benefits based on actual crop damage. “A procedure has been decided in this regard, and the cabinet has approved it. The subcommittee has also been asked to assess the situation in individual talukas,” Fadnavis said, adding that the move will ensure justice for farmers or talukas that have been left out of the initial list despite genuine crop damage.