Maharashtra to issue farmer IDs to tribal farmers, move crop inspection online

The Maharashtra government has taken two decisions for farmers. The first is to issue farmer IDs to tribal farmers, and the second is to conduct crop inspection, the checking of crops, online. State Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule announced the decisions before the media. The two decisions will benefit 2.6 lakh farmers in the state, including 1.6 lakh tribal farmers.

Tribal communities have been tilling land for years, but their names are not on the land leases and they are not covered under other schemes either. In different parts of the state, they have been unable to get farmer IDs for different reasons. There was no standard operating procedure (SOP) for this. The state government will now issue farmer IDs to such tribal people.

The condition is that a tribal farmer must produce even a single piece of evidence from before 1 January 2015 to get a farmer ID. If a tribal farmer was cultivating any kind of land before 1 January 2015, a handwritten record will be given to the farmer. Bawankule said that even if the land is government land, everyone who has a rightful claim to it will get a farmer ID. On the occasion of Diwali, the Revenue Department has given this relief to 1.6 lakh tribal farmers.

The second decision concerns crop inspection. Crops will now be checked online. Bawankule said this would make it easier to check the stalled crop inspections of more than one lakh farmers.

Trees are being felled in Karjat, and actor Sayaji Shinde has begun an agitation against it. Bawankule also responded on this. He said hydro projects are a boon for the state and that they provide cheap electricity today. He said hydro projects never cause environmental damage. Bawankule said the government will listen to what Sayaji Shinde wants to say and will also provide land for all the trees that need to be planted. According to him, felling trees is not right, but it is also not right for the hydro project to go away. He claimed that the project will give farmers electricity during the day and bring them relief.

An interview of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has appeared in a newspaper. Bawankule commented on this as well. He said he does not know what Sonia Gandhi said, but the Congress party, which imposed the Emergency on the country, should not speak on freedom of expression and fundamental rights. Bawankule said Sonia Gandhi should first look at her own party's history.