Rs 10,000 crore initial aid to farmers, more to follow: Patil

The Rs 10,000-crore sum approved by the Maharashtra government for providing assistance to farmers whose crops have been affected by unseasonal rains was based on initial assessment of damage and more aid will be released soon, said Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil on Monday.

The farmers not covered by the government's insurance scheme will also get relief, he said.

"We will release further aid soon after the final assessment of losses," said Patil.

The minister was speaking to reporters after attending a meeting where the situation in the rain-affected Purandar, Baramati and Indapur talukas in Pune district was reviewed.

He said said the Rs 10,000-crore relief package announced on Saturday was based on primary assessment of losses suffered by cultivators.

The Saturday decision was taken by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the meeting of a Cabinet sub-committee.

"We are collecting different types of information from the (affected) farmers. We need to understand that the assessment of crops is important to get relief from insurance companies as it is mandatory for their audits," said Patil, the newly-elected BJP MLA from Kothrud in Pune city.

He said the state government is paying around 75 per cent premium for crop insurance.

"Therefore, the Maharashtra government has a stake in relief amount released by insurance companies for farmers," Patil said.

He said if farmers gets less amount from insurance companies, the Maharashtra government will step in and provide required funds to them to cover the losses.

"We will also provide relief to farmers not covered under the insurance scheme," Patil said.

As per initial evaluation, crops on 54.22 lakh hectares spread across 325 talukas in at least half dozen districts have been damaged. The damaged crops include jawar, paddy, cotton and soyabean.

Last week, Fadnavis had said the state government will also seek the Centre's help to provide relief to the affected farmers.

On Monday, Fadnavis met Union home minister Amit Shah and sought more help from the Centre for a package for farmers whose crops have been damaged by unseasonal rains.