Drought relief work scaled up : CM Devendra Fadnavis to tour worst affected districts from September 1

All the eight districts of Marathwada and six districts of Vidarbha facing agrararian crisis are being provided subsidised food grains, wheat at Rs 2 per kg, and rice at Rs 3 per kg. Almost 11,000 metric tonne of food grains have been provided to the state.

The chief minister said, “It is my appeal to district administration and gram panchayats to mobilise centre-state schemes to ensure not a single farmer in their village starves.”

Several district collectors confirmed directives from the CMO to scale up operations to reach food and water to villagers.

According to Osmanabad collector Prashant Narnawre, “There is no shortage of food.”

Racting to reports of a farmer’s wife in Bhum village attempting suicide due to starvation, he said, “I am trying to ascertain the facts. There is no shortage of food grains in the district. We are disbursing subsidised food grains to 2.85 lakh families in the district. From August 15, we had added 1.05 lakh families to the list under Food Security Act.”

“The biggest concern relates to water scarcity in some parts of Marathwada. The second important factor is fodder,” said the official. It is estimated that fodder requirement for the region will be scaled upto 24 lakh metric tonnes.

Government has made provisions to ensure water supply through trains. But these can be extended only to places where infrastructure is available. In interior villages the administration is providing tankers for water supply.

Farmers Distress Panel Head Kishore Tiwari said, “The farm crisis cannot be undermined. The decision to provide food grains to farmers along with drinking water is a positive step. The provision of fodder for animals will mitigate the problems faced by farmers.”

Tiwari said, “There is a mechanism to monitor the administration’s relief work round the clock. Wherever there are shortcomings, we will point it out and force corrective steps.”

The approach to tackling the farm crisis appears to be heading in the right direction, he added.