Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on June 13 announced a compensation of Rs 1,500 crore to farmers for crops damaged due to little rain. He said that earlier compensation used to be given in case of heavy rain only. “Till now, the governments used to give compensation in case of heavy rains. But no compensation used to be given for crops getting damaged in little rainfall. Due to this, we have now decided to give a compensation of Rs 1,500 crore to farmers for crops damaged by little rainfall,” said CM Eknath Shinde.
Earlier, Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government rolled out a new financial scheme under which more than one crore farmers in the state will now be paid Rs 6,000 annually. Maharashtra farmers will now get a total of Rs 12,000 per year - Rs 6,000 from Centre and Rs 6,000 from the state government. The scheme, Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Yojana, was approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.