Mumbai: Brushing aside the Maharashtra government’s demand of Rs 7,000 crore for drought relief, the Centre sanctioned a mere Rs 4,714.28 crore on Tuesday. The opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘blue-eyed boy’, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, failed to secure the entire amount of assistance he had requested.
However, Fadnavis thanked the Modi government for its assistance in drought mitigation and claimed it was the highest amount approved by the union government. However, Dhananjay Munde, the leader of the opposition in the legislative council alleged that the amount was not sufficient to fight against the compelling drought conditions.
More than half the state is reeling under drought. The state has officially declared drought in 151 talukas and is implementing norms as per central guidelines. The state had accordingly submitted a proposal seek-ing Rs 7,000 crore as relief from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF). A central fact-finding team had even visited some villages in drought-affected Marathwada and Vidarbha last December and submitted its report.
Fadnavis has been claiming that the Modi government had promised maximum assistance for Maharashtra, surpassing what had been received by the erstwhile Congress-NCP government. However, a high-powered committee headed by the union home minister, Rajnath Singh, on Tuesday, approved only Rs 4714.28 crore. “The situation in the state is deplorable. People from Marathwada are migrating to Mumbai and neighbouring states to make ends meet.
There are no jobs in several districts in Marathwada and no opportunities either due to languishing sugar mills in the region,” said Munde. He further added that the state is not serious about proving fodder for cattle and farmers are being forced to sell them for slaughter. “The Bharatiya Janata Party government is in election mode and it does not have time to resolve the drought issue. People will turn against the Fadnavis government and deliver their verdict in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls,” said Munde
