The Centre has sanctioned over Rs 5,000 crore of financial assistance to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh for the drought affected regions.
Little over three thousand crore rupees are allotted for the drought affected regions of Maharashtra and around Rs 2000 crore for Madhya Pradesh.
This decision was taken at a high-level Committee meeting held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh attended by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog and other senior officials of concerned ministers.
Mr. Radha Mohan Singh informed media that this is the largest amount sanctioned by the Centre to States for natural disaster .The committee examined the proposals on the basis of report of the Central Teams which visited the drought-affected parts of the state and approved the assistance from the National Disaster Relief Fund.
Welcoming the announcement, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the Centre’s assistance towards the drought relief was the biggest-ever to the state for any natural disaster. He expressed his deep gratitude to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India.
While speaking to reporters in Mumbai, he sought to corner the Opposition parties, who had made the drought relief a major issue during the just concluded Winter Session of the State Legislature in Nagpur, saying that there could not be a more befitting reply to those who have been only doing politics on the drought instead of uniting to help farmers in the times of distress.
Earlier, the state had demanded financial assistance to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore for the relevant measures through the memorandum presented to the Centre last month. The immediate assistance of Rs 940 crore was already given to the state from the NDRF for the same purpose.
Meanwhile, the main Opposition party Congress has sharply reacted to the announcement saying the assistance amount is quite meagre and comes as a major disappointment to the distressed farmers.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the Centre’s assistance towards the drought relief help us to bring back the smiles on the faces of the farmers of the state.
In his tweet he expressed his deep gratitude to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jatley.
Earlier, the state had demanded financial assistance to the tune of Rs 4,500 crore for the relevant measures through the memorandum presented to the Centre last month.