Maharashtra Cabinet clears Rs 5,000 advance for 1.5 crore farmers in 304 drought-hit talukas before Diwali

The Maharashtra Cabinet took several key decisions at its meeting on farmers, persons with disabilities, industry, irrigation, air services and administrative reforms. The decisions seek to give financial support to agriculture, change employment arrangements and speed up the development of basic infrastructure. In all, 12 decisions were taken.

The biggest decision is for farmers. About 1.5 crore farmers in the state's 304 drought-hit talukas will get an advance of Rs 5,000 before Diwali. The advance will be given unconditionally to all farmers who have suffered crop loss of more than 33 per cent. The money will be credited directly to farmers' bank accounts through direct benefit transfer. The decision is from the Relief and Rehabilitation Department.

The Matoshri Gram Samruddhi Shet-Panand Road Scheme will continue in coordination with the Viksit Bharat G RAM G scheme and several other schemes. It is a state-level scheme, but its works can also be carried out from the District Planning Committee's funds. For this, the scheme has also been approved as a district-level scheme. The Cabinet also approved giving the state-level committee the power to remove ground-level hurdles so that the scheme is implemented effectively. The decision relates to the Employment Guarantee Scheme Department.

The Cabinet approved the use of 1 per cent of the District Annual Plan (General) funds for the welfare, rehabilitation and empowerment of persons with disabilities. The proposal came from the Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

The Cabinet approved the staffing pattern of 39,722 posts in the Water Resources Department. A revised staffing pattern has been fixed for five corporations and regional offices, which means a new arrangement will be put in place and offices will be restructured. By the end of 2016, 45 lakh hectares were under irrigation. This rose by 13 lakh hectares, and by the end of 2025, 58 lakh hectares are irrigated. To handle the increased area, posts will be created for 1,450 irrigation branch offices, comprising 1,340 existing branches and 110 new ones. For the five corporations, three new cadres will be created, of land acquisition experts, agriculture experts and social change experts, along with a total of 15 posts at executive engineer level. The Cabinet also approved merging some posts to create a new cadre of irrigation assistants.

Construction of a Bharat Mandapam at Lohegaon in Pune will get a push. In the sanctioned development plan of the Pune Municipal Corporation, the reservation of the sports ground at Lohegaon will be changed, and a national-level exhibition centre modelled on the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi will be built there. The decision is from the Urban Development Department.

Under the Maharashtra Electric Vehicle Policy, Rs 66.82 crore was approved for Bajaj Auto Limited for manufacturing electric vehicles. Flights from Chipi airport in Sindhudurg district will resume. The Cabinet approved 100 per cent viability gap funding for airlines on the Navi Mumbai-Chipi (Sindhudurg) and Chipi-Navi Mumbai air routes. The Malharrao Holkar Nomadic and Denotified Tribes Cooperative Spinning Mill at Shirur Tajband (Ahmedpur taluka) in Latur district will receive government financial assistance.

Reforms to the Maharashtra Public-Private Partnership (PPP) policy were also cleared. Every stage, from project screening, in-principle approval, request for proposals and transaction structure to the tender process and bidding, will now be planned better. Zilla parishads in the state will now have only one post of assistant administrative officer. The Junior Administrative Officer (S-13) and Assistant Administrative Officer (S-14) posts in the Group A clerical cadre will be merged into a single cadre of Assistant Administrative Officer (S-14).

The Cabinet approved handing over 289 hectares 69 are of land at Raver village in Dhule district to the Dhule-based regional officer of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation for the expansion of the MIDC area. It also approved an amendment to the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University Act, 2014, after which the Chancellor will have the power to remove the person holding the post of Pro-Vice-Chancellor.