Two Maharashtra farmers have approached the Bombay High Court seeking that the Union government be directed to provide a Rs. 20,000-crore package to compensate the losses suffered by thousands of farmers in the State whose crops were destroyed by hailstorms over the last month. The Public Interest Litigation petition will be heard on Thursday.
Lamenting that the model code of conduct is preventing assistance being offered to farmers in around 15,000 villages, the petitioners demanded that the government waive all loans and outstanding bills of those affected. The petition has sought the appointment of a high- power committee headed by the Chief Secretary.
This committee, comprising senior officers of the departments of revenue, agriculture, animal husbandry and dairy development, should immediately execute the required disbursal to cover the losses, which have been pegged at around Rs.42,000 crore.
“It is the duty incumbent upon the respondents to immediately declare the calamity as a natural calamity and declare immediate financial assistance and help to those farmers who are severally affected,” petitioners Gorakh Ghadge and Vithalrao Pawar said.
Mr. Ghadge hails from Solapur and Mr. Pawar is from Pune. They claim that the farmers have collapsed and have lost crops like paddy, jowar, wheat, vegetables, onion, sugarcane, corn, maize, groundnuts, and horticultural crops such as bananas, pomegranates, grapes, oranges, papayas, mangos and mosambi.
The petitioners have stated that as per information gathered through Right to Information, a total area of 17,69,403 hectares has been directly affected and “thus, the loss of the ready crop comes to about Rs.42,000 crore approximately.” They said they calculated the loss on the basis of Rs. 1 lakh per acre, “including all crops situated as per the area provided by the government.”
Apart from sympathy and empty assurances from Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, “the farmers in the entire State [have] got nothing either from the State or Central government and/or any commitment by the Election Commission thereof whether any recommendation from the State and Central governments has been forwarded.”
