Sharad Pawar slams Maha govt for ignoring plight of rain hit farmers

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Monday said the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra has failed to take concrete measures to help cultivators who have incurred heavy losses due to rains in parts of the State. The former Union agriculture minister interacted with farmers in his home district of Pune to understand their grievances and losses faced by them due to heavy rainfall.

Talking to farmers in Purandar tehsil, Mr. Pawar rued the State Government was not ready to take concrete measures for cultivators who incurred heavy losses due to downpour. Pune has received unusually high amount of rains in October. During the interaction, the NCP leader empathized with farmers and told them he understood their pains and problems, and assured to make efforts to get relief.

"Farmers have incurred losses because of heavy rains. The government should take some concrete steps to steer them out of this situation. However, the present government is not ready to take these kinds of measures. The Centre has also been apprised of the situation on ground, but no concrete decision has been taken," Mr. Pawar said. He further said the State Government recently announced a complete waiver for farmers who have taken loans from Bhuvikas Bank, but sought to know how many agriculturists have availed of credit from the lender.