Jarange Patil calls Rs 5,000 drought aid for farmers a joke, seeks Rs 1 lakh per hectare
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil criticised the state's pre-Diwali Rs 5,000 relief for drought-hit farmers and demanded Rs 1 lakh per hectare.
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Deficient rain this year has left farmers in the state in deep trouble. Kharif crops have been damaged and farmers are in financial distress. The state government has announced aid of Rs 5,000 for every drought-hit farmer before Diwali, but the amount has heated up the political climate. Manoj Jarange Patil, an activist of the Maratha reservation movement, has also sharply criticised the government.
Speaking to the media after offering prayers to Renuka Mata at Somthana Gad, Jarange Patil questioned the government's aid. He said the drought had caused heavy losses to farmers and they should receive a grant of Rs 1 lakh per hectare. He said that in such a situation, giving Rs 5,000 was like applying a bandage to the farmers' wounds.
Jarange Patil said the announcement of Rs 5,000 before Diwali would not solve the farmers' problems. According to him, the aid is small compared with the losses the farmers have suffered. He therefore demanded that the government give farmers a grant of Rs 1 lakh per hectare.
Jarange Patil also alleged that the aid announced by the government was an attempt to divert farmers' attention from agitations and morchas. He also said it was not right if farmers had to stand at the doors of banks to get aid.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have also questioned the government's aid announcement. Calling Rs 5,000 inadequate compared with the losses from the drought, they are demanding aid of Rs 1 lakh per hectare.
Farmers are now watching to see how much aid drought-hit farmers will actually receive, what the criteria will be and when the money will be credited to their accounts.
