Maharashtra didn’t get NDRF money: Ashok Chavan

Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan on Monday said that the state has not received a single rupee from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) even though Maharashtra is reeling under drought and over 3,000 farmers have committed suicide this year. Mr Chavan dismissed chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s claim that the state has received Rs 920 crore from the NDRF.

Mr Fadnavis had, on Sunday, said the state received money from the Centre under the NDRF last month. The money was given to the state in two instalments of Rs 500 and Rs 420 crore.

However, the Congress leader said that he has a written reply given by the Union government in Lok Sabha that Maharashtra had not received anything from the NDRF.

“The Union government immediately announced aid for Tamil Nadu after the floods in Chennai. We are not against the government helping people in Tamil Nadu, but in Maharashtra, more than 3,000 farmers have committed suicides this year. The state is reeling under severe drought, but it has not received a single rupee from the NDRF,” Mr Chavan said.

When told about Mr Fadnavis’s claim that the state received Rs 9,200 crore from the NDRF, Mr Chavan said in that case the Congress could move a breach of privilege motion against the CM.

“I have a written reply given to me in Lok Sabha. I had raised the issue of drought in Maharashtra in Lok Sabha and I was informed in writing that no aid has been given to Maharashtra. This is not even an old reply; I got it just a few days ago,” Mr Chavan said.

However, a senior BJP minister denied the charges leveled by Mr Chavan. He said that the state received Rs 920 crore as an advance from the NDRF. “A central team has visited Maharashtra to inspect the ground situation after the state’s demand for aid to tackle it. The state received Rs 920 crore as an advance while the final aid from NDRF could be a lot bigger than that. So technically, the Centre has not got any aid from NDRF as yet, but the state has received Rs 920 crore as an advance while the process of assessing the losses is on,” the minister said.

The CM has also denied the Opposition allegations that the state is insensitive towards farmers’ plights and accused the Opposition of playing politics over the issue instead of working with the government to help the farmers. The Opposition had boycotted the CM’s tea party on the eve of the first day of the Assembly Session.

However, the CM said, “The drought situation this year is unprecedented. In the hour of crisis when the state was facing severe drought in 14 districts, the government was expecting the Opposition to sit across the table over tea and discuss the issues seriously. But the Opposition preferred to boycott it. It was time for all parties to come together and sympathise with the distressed farmers in overcoming the crisis and help the state to tackle the drought more effectively.”