Drought relief: Rs 5,000 each paid to 1.51 lakh farmers in Wardha district

Wardha district received less rain this year and groundwater levels were also low, creating drought conditions. Drought has been declared in all tehsils of the district. The poor rainfall has also hit kharif crops. To give relief to farmers, it had been announced that Rs 5,000 would be credited to every farmer's account before Diwali. So far, the money has been credited to the accounts of 1.51 lakh farmers.

Rainfall was low because of the effect of El Nino, and cotton, soyabean, tur and other crops suffered. Yields fell for farmers in most areas. Rabi and summer crops will also be badly affected later. The government has therefore declared a drought situation and begun measures, which include several forms of relief.

In the district, money has been credited since November 2 to accounts linked to farmers' Aadhaar. At the tehsil and district levels, the accounts of 1,88,197 farmers have been approved so far. Of these, a total of Rs 75.50 crore has been credited to 1.51 lakh accounts at Rs 5,000 each. The approval of accounts and the transfer of money are still under way, so the number of farmers covered will rise.

The tehsil-wise figures are as follows: Rs 8,59,85,000 to 17,197 farmers in Arvi, Rs 5,76,25,000 to 11,525 farmers in Ashti, Rs 9,79,10,000 to 19,582 farmers in Deoli, Rs 14,04,55,000 to 28,091 farmers in Hinganghat, Rs 7,59,50,000 to 15,190 farmers in Karanja, Rs 13,10,10,000 to 26,202 farmers in Samudrapur, Rs 8,94,80,000 to 17,896 farmers in Seloo and Rs 7,55,35,000 to 15,107 farmers in Wardha.