MUMBAI: Maharashtra government has sought Rs 200 crore from the Centre to aid hailstorm affected farmers and the compensation will reach the farmers within a week's time, state agriculture minister Pandurang Phundkar said here on Wednesday.
The decision in this regard was taken at the state cabinet meeting headed by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Phundkar said. The final surveys of the crop damage are expected to be completed within next couple of days and the amount of compensation is likely to be disbursed in third week of this month, he added.
In the backdrop of the exsiting unrest amongst the farmers over several issues, the state government is taking all possible measures to ensure speedy relief to the hailstorm affected farmers, the minister said and added that the farmers who had opted for the crop insurance scheme would also be benefitted out of the scheme.
"We are also conducting meetings with the insurance companies for speedy processing of claims," the minister added.
Meanwhile, the state cabinet also cleared another Rs 199 crore towards compensation for farmers whose lands have been acquired for various projects but the compensation has been pending due to disputes. One such farmers, Dharma Patil, had committed suicide by consuming poison at Mantralaya here on January 22, 2018.
In another major decision, the state cabint gave nod to development of integrated industrial zones on the land allotted to now denotified special economic zones.