Mungantiwar seeks weekly 'Kisan Madad Kaksh' in Chandrapur for farmers hit by drought-like conditions

MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar has written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding that a 'Kisan Madad Kaksh' (farmers' help desk) be started in Chandrapur every Monday. In the letter, he said the desk should be set up at the Collector's office in Chandrapur and at all tehsil offices in the district. According to him, the aim is to ensure that farmers do not have to make repeated rounds of offices in drought-like conditions.

The letter says farmers in Chandrapur district are facing several problems because of the drought-like situation. These include crop loss, crop insurance payouts, government financial aid, availability of drinking water, fodder and water for livestock, the benefits of farming schemes, and loan-related difficulties. Farmers go to the Collector's office and tehsil offices to resolve these. Mungantiwar said officials of different departments are not present at the same time, so farmers have to visit several times.

Mungantiwar has demanded that heads of all drought-related departments be present without fail at the desk held every Monday at the Collector's office. He said that if officials from agriculture, revenue, relief and rehabilitation and other departments dealing with farmers' problems are available in one place, farmers will be able to place their complaints and requests directly before the concerned officials. This would reduce the time and money spent going from office to office, and make it easier for departments to resolve cases in coordination, he said.

Since farmers in rural areas cannot reach the Collector's office every time, Mungantiwar has also demanded that the desk be held every Monday at all tehsil offices in the district. He said instructions should be issued that the tehsildar's assistant and responsible officials of the concerned departments be present at these desks. According to him, this would allow farmers to be heard at the tehsil level itself and spare them needless running around for help.

Mungantiwar expects the desk not to be limited to receiving requests. According to him, every complaint and application received there should be recorded, the concerned department should act on it immediately, and pending cases should be reviewed regularly. He also said farmers should be told what action has been taken on their application, which department the matter is stuck with and what happens next. According to Mungantiwar, this would spare farmers repeated trips to offices to learn the status of their applications.

Finally, MLA Mungantiwar has urged Chief Minister Fadnavis to issue immediate instructions to the Collector and the concerned officials. According to him, the core of the demand is that farmers' running around should be reduced during the difficult period of drought and that their questions should get priority from the administration.