Give beleaguered farmers Rs 50K/acre, says Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil

Mumbai: Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil Thursday demanded that farmers affected by drought in Maharashtra should be given financial aid of Rs 50,000 per acre and their Kharif crop loans for the current year be waived off. The state government had, earlier this week, declared “drought-like” situation in 180 tehsils in Maharashtra. Mr Vikhe-Patil claimed signs of drought-like conditions were seen about two months ago but the state government looked the other way. “Due to deficient rainfall, it is doubtful if the Rabi crop sowing can be done,” Mr Vikhe-Patil said at a press conference here.

The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly criticised chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ flagship project Jalyukt Shivar and claimed that it was a scam. “Jalyukt Shivar is a scam... it is Jholyukt Shivar... I am collecting data village by village and then I will speak about it,” he said. He indicated that the issue would be raised during the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature.  “The only thing remaining is to file a PIL (on Jalyukt Shivar) in the Bombay high court,” said Mr Vikhe-Patil. He also questioned new norms of drought declaration put in place in 2016. While the government earlier used the “paisewari” or “annewari” system to declare drought in a particular area, it now follows the Manual for Drought Management, released in December 2016.