Shah assures Centre's aid to Maharashtra as floods hit 6 mn hectares crops

Home Minister Amit Shah says the Centre will extend all assistance to farmers after heavy rains and floods damaged standing crops on 6 million hectares of farmland across Maharashtra

Standing crops across nearly 6 million hectares of farmland in Maharashtra — largely comprising soybeans and sugarcane — have been affected by prolonged rains. Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Centre, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, will extend all possible assistance to farmers who have suffered losses due to heavy rainfall.

 

In total, kharif crops are sown in around 14–15 million hectares of land in the state, mostly comprising soybeans, sugarcane and pulses.

 

Of this, Shah said, standing crops on around 6 million hectares — almost 40 per cent of agricultural land — have been affected by the recent downpour.

   

Shah was addressing a farmers’ rally after inaugurating the expanded capacity of the Dr Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil Cooperative Sugar Factory in Ahilyanagar district.

 

Several parts of Maharashtra have witnessed heavy rains and floods in recent weeks, causing widespread damage.

 

“I had a detailed meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and both Deputy Chief Ministers, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. On behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I assured them that once a detailed report is submitted, PM Modi will not delay extending any help to Maharashtra’s farmers,” Shah said.

 

The Centre has already released Rs 3,132 crore from the previous year’s assistance, including Rs 1,631 crore in April this year. The Maharashtra government has also provided Rs 2,215 crore as relief, benefiting more than 3.1 million farmers, Shah said.

 

He added that the state government has taken several steps to ease farmers’ distress.

 

“The Maharashtra government has provided Rs 10,000 cash assistance and 35 kg of foodgrains to each flood-affected family. Loan recovery has been suspended, e-KYC norms relaxed for one time, and relief has been granted in revenue tax and school fees,” Shah said.