2.39 lakh drought-hit farmers in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar get Rs 5,000 advance before Diwali

Farmers in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district whose crops were ruined by drought have received an advance of Rs 5,000 in their bank accounts ahead of Diwali. District Collector Vinay Gowda G.C. said that as soon as the district administration received the grant from the government, it completed the process and credited Rs 5,000 each to the accounts of 2,39,320 farmers.

The state government has declared all nine talukas of the district drought-hit, and affected farmers had been waiting for assistance since then. Data on 5,92,271 farmers in the district has been uploaded and has also been approved at the district level. With Diwali close and complaints of non-receipt of aid beginning to rise, the government arranged to credit the advance of Rs 5,000 to accounts before the festival and made funds available for it.

Accordingly, the advance was credited on Tuesday, November 3, to the accounts of 2.39 lakh farmers in the district. The remaining farmers are said to be due to receive the amount within two days.

Farmers who have a Farmer ID were given priority. Eligible beneficiaries were approved first on the basis of AgriStack information, and data was made available according to Farmer ID. The district administration took farmers' data from the agencies concerned, then completed verification and approval before the amount was credited, Collector Gowda said.

According to Collector Gowda, aid of Rs 119.66 crore has been provided in the district so far. District and taluka-level offices are working day and night, including on holidays, so that the remaining farmers also receive help as soon as possible. He said the district administration is committed to getting aid to farmers on time.

The taluka-wise figures are: Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 17,036 farmers, Gangapur 32,855, Kannad 38,191, Khultabad 10,804, Paithan 32,805, Phulambri 15,650, Sillod 31,815, Soegaon 14,723 and Vaijapur 45,441. The total comes to 2,39,320 farmers.