Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar assures drought-hit Nanded farmers of help

With deficient rainfall creating drought-like conditions in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar visited Sonkhed and Loha villages in Nanded district on Friday. She went into the fields to inspect the condition of crops and spoke with farmers.

She said the government had taken the drought-like situation very seriously and had given clear instructions to the administration to conduct panchnamas on the spot. According to Pawar, farmers who have suffered losses will be given help based on these panchnamas and surveys. "The government will not leave farmers alone," she said.

Cooperation Minister Babasaheb Patil, MLA Vikram Kale, MLA Pratap Patil Chikhalikar and MLA Anand Tidke-Bondharkar were present on the occasion, along with District Collector Rahul Kardile, Chief Executive Officer Mahesh Patil, District Superintending Agriculture Officer Dattakumar Kalsait, Sub-Divisional Officer Vilas Narwate and Tehsildar Vitthal Paralikar, besides officials and staff from several departments.

Pawar said the lack of rain had dried up crops in the fields and that farmers were in a very serious condition. She said she herself was a daughter of Marathwada and understood the hardship of drought in the region well. She said the government had taken farmers' concerns seriously and had asked the administration to conduct panchnamas on the spot, with help to be given to each farmer according to the extent of their losses. She also said all eligible farmers would get the benefit of loan waivers.

She made clear that during this drought, the government would also provide farming families with drinking water, water for livestock, fodder and support for children's education. She said the government stood firmly with farmers and that help would soon reach those who had suffered losses.

Pawar spoke directly with farmers, including women farmers, and heard their difficulties. She assured them that the state government stood fully with farmers in this crisis and that every possible help would be provided. Farmers and local residents from the surrounding area were also present in large numbers on the occasion.