Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the drought situation in the State. Mr. Fadnavis apprised Mr. Shah of the prevailing drought conditions and submitted a memorandum seeking maximum assistance from the Centre under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) norms. He also urged the Home Minister to provide a special relief package for the drought affected farmers. The meeting assumes political significance as Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had earlier met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of the drought situation in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra has been facing a more severe drought than 1972. Out of 358 talukas in the state, as many as 265 talukas have already been declared drought-affected in the last month. Apart from this, 20 talukas are expected to be added in the trigger I list in the coming days.
After the meeting with the Union Home Minister, Mr. Fadnavis told the reporters that he had met Mr. Shah, who also is chairman of NDRF as well as the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) which considers proposals related to drought assistance. The proposal related to seeking financial assistance goes to the IMG. “We have already submitted an advance proposal. I have also given the same proposal to him (Shah). I have informed him that Maharashtra has been experiencing severe drought. Fodder crisis and water crisis are expected to take place (in the coming days). 32 districts have been witnessing severe drought. 80 percent of talukas have been affected by the drought. Therefore, special assistance will be provided to Maharashtra by the central government,” the chief minister said.
He also said that they have also requested the central government to dispatch its team to conduct an assessment of the affected areas.
Mr. Fadnavis said that he has also held discussions with Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. “I have been told the central government’s team will come to Maharashtra on October 8 and remain here till October 11 for conducting ground survey and ground truthing,” he said. Post this, the team will submit its report to NDRF. Based on the state government’s proposal and the central government team’s report, the NDRF would take final decision on assistance.
During the meeting, Mr Fadnavis said that the Union Home Minister assured the Central government would provide maximum possible drought assistance to Maharashtra. “The central government will firmly stand behind Maharashtra, and for that, I am extremely grateful to him,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the survey of certain crops in 23000 villages has been completed. “We are making efforts to provide assistance to the affected farmers as soon as possible,” he said.
He also pointed out that, since 2001, drought has generally been declared in November and December. However, this time, the State Government has set aside the rules and declared the drought in advance. “Assistance, too, has not been provided before December in the past. However, we have decided to provide assistance as soon as possible,” Mr Fadnavis said.
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