Maharashtra govt schemes to aid farmers, says Sudhir Mungantiwar

The Asian Age.  | Sonu Shrivastava

Metros, Mumbai

The house has been informed that 82,27,166 farmers have been affected by the drought.

Maharashtra Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar (Photo: File)

Mumbai:  In order to improve the conditions of farmers in the state, the Maharashtra government has earmarked Rs 3498 crore for agriculture in its vote of account budget.

Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the government has taken up various schemes useful for agriculture to help the farmers.

An outlay of Rs 3,498 crore has been proposed for schemes such as the Bhausaheb Fundkar Horticulture Plantation Scheme and the grant for agriculture instruments under the centrally-sponsored Agriculture Mechanised Farming scheme.

The house has been informed that 82,27,166 farmers have been affected by the drought.

Mr Mungantiwar said that the government has come up with the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetakari Sanman Yojana in the year 2018 to help the farmers live respectfully. Rs 24,000 has been sanctioned to 51 lakh farmers under this scheme.

The government is committed to making farmers loan-free and the government will ensure that there is no shortage of funds till the last eligible farmer becomes loan-free. The finance minister also proposed an outlay of Rs 1500 crore for the flagship scheme, Jalyukta Shivar Yojana of the government and the Galmukta Dharan aka Galyukta Shivar Yojana.

“The state is committed to making 22,000 villages drought-free by May 2019. In the last four years, the government spent Rs 4,049 crore on this scheme,” said Mr Mungantiwar As per the budget provision, the state has proposed an outlay of Rs 900 crore for agriculture pump sets.

In the last four years, 4.4 lakh agriculture pump sets have been provided.  He also said that an outlay of Rs 500 crore has been proposed for the Atal Arthasahay Yojana for the year 2019-20. This scheme will promote agriculture and complementary businesses of co-operative institutions.

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