Bawankule urges opposition to help drought relief work, not politics

Amid drought-like conditions in the state, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the government would show no laxity on the issue. Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, he said the government would focus specifically on panchnama assessments and the availability of water, fodder and foodgrain.

Bawankule also had advice for opposition parties. He said the opposition should help the government reach people struggling with drought instead of merely doing politics. This responsibility, he said, did not rest with the government alone but with both the government and the opposition. He said the opposition should also help ensure that the package announced by the government was actually reaching beneficiaries.

The minister said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had set up an 11-member cabinet sub-committee to take full stock of the drought-like situation in the state and ensure necessary measures reach affected areas effectively. This committee is working under Bawankule's own leadership.

Bawankule said the committee would decide measures based on the condition of drought-affected areas, and would also check whether these measures were actually being implemented on the ground. He said it would be the committee's responsibility to ensure that government decisions related to the drought were properly implemented and that their benefit actually reached the affected people. For this, the committee will meet every Tuesday evening to review the work done that week.

Bawankule acknowledged that the current situation was serious, but said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had assured the people of Maharashtra that the government would not let farmers feel any shortfall. He said the state government would take all necessary steps on its part, and that necessary proposals for assistance from the NDRF would be sent to the central government. He added that while awaiting central assistance, the state government would not sit idle and would continue taking necessary measures at its own level.