Bawankule orders drought aid to reach farmers before Diwali, 19 more talukas added to relief list

Panchnamas (damage assessments) are under way in drought-hit parts of Maharashtra. The state government will provide drought relief to farmers covered under the crop insurance scheme. Revenue Minister Bawankule said the aid must reach farmers before Diwali. He also gave clear directions that a central drought assessment team will survey the state.

A Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reviewed drought relief measures, available water stocks and the crop and water situation in the state. Different measures were discussed with farmers and farm labourers at the centre. Ministers Pankaja Munde, Dattatray Bharne, Makarand Patil, Nitesh Rane, Gulabrao Patil, Sanjay Rathod, Jaykumar Gore, Pratap Sarnaik, Girish Mahajan and Babasaheb Patil, who are members of the committee, attended, along with Chief Secretary Rajesh Agrawal and administrative officers of the departments concerned.

Bawankule said nationalised and private banks and private finance institutions must not contact any farmer. He gave clear orders at the meeting that strict action would be taken against anyone who harasses farmers. It was also ordered that officials of the Reserve Bank of India be consulted and asked to issue instructions to the banks, and that district-level meetings of banks be held under the chairmanship of district collectors.

The e-KYC of farmers whose e-KYC is incomplete or pending will be completed so that they can get crop loans immediately. Farmers not registered on AgriStack will be registered and enabled to benefit from Central and state government schemes. Orders were also issued to begin work on the digital crop survey and on removing online difficulties.

Emphasis was placed on restarting defunct water supply schemes and on implementing a recharge shaft scheme to percolate large quantities of water into the ground. Treated water from sewage treatment plants, rather than clean drinking water, will be used for construction. Work on issuing a government resolution on this is under way.

The Water Resources Department has issued a government resolution to plan the frugal use of available water. Because conditions differ from district to district, a district-level water use monitoring committee will be set up under the guardian minister.

To increase fodder availability, the directions are to develop grassland and set up fodder banks on vacant Forest Department land, lake surroundings and government land along Water Resources Department lakes. In rice-growing areas including Vidarbha, rice straw should be stored and used as fodder instead of being burnt. Minister Bawankule said the focus would be on producing as much fodder as possible from sources within the state rather than bringing it from other states.

In areas with soil moisture and limited water, gram and jowar will be given priority in the rabi season. Bawankule also said the Centre's approval of 100 per cent procurement of jowar will bring relief to farmers.

Earlier, 265 talukas had been declared for drought relief measures. It has now been decided to include 19 talukas that were previously left out and to conduct a 20 per cent crop survey there. District collectors have been directed to carry out a preliminary inspection of demands to include more talukas, and their report will follow. Based on that report, the Cabinet sub-committee will decide on including the talukas concerned, he said.

Fodder banks will be set up where water is available. Help will be taken for this from various companies in the state through social responsibility funds. Minister Bawankule appealed to as many companies as possible to contribute through CSR so that all talukas get equal treatment.

Instead of taking up cement road works from the District Planning Committee funds, priority will go to basic works in villages and cities and to drought relief measures. Members of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council have been allowed to take up works worth up to Rs 25 lakh from their funds for drought relief, and a government resolution has been issued on this, Bawankule said.