A sum of Rs. 2,800 crore was paid as compensation to over 31 lakh farmers whose crops were destroyed in the hailstorms in Maharashtra in February and March, the State government told the Bombay High Court on Thursday.
Responding to a bunch of public interest litigation petitions seeking relief, the government said in an affidavit that Rs. 2,548 crore was directly credited to the farmers’ accounts between March and August. The balance was with the offices of the District Collectors as the affected farmlands had multiple shareholders, Milind More, Assistant Government Pleader, told a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah.
