Amid criticism from the opposition, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said that the portfolios to the newly sworn-in 18 ministers will be soon allocated. However, he declined to divulge further details. Even though Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Fadnavis were sworn in on June 30 and 18 ministers on August 9, they are working without any portfolios.
"Portfolios will be allocated to the new ministers soon," he said in Nagpur.
Fadnavis also assured that the government would soon release the compensation for crop losses suffered by the state farmers due to heavy rains.
Fadnavis congratulated Chandrashekhar Bawankule on his appointment as the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Maharashtra unit president.
The deputy chief minister said the crop loss compensation announced by the government for farmers will be distributed soon and added that the area of crop damages is still increasing. "The compensation will soon be released after calculating losses from all these affected areas," said Fadnavis.
The Shinde-Fadnavis government on Wednesday decided to double the amount of compensation that the farmers affected by the excessive rains in July are entitled to get. "As per the current NDRF (National Disaster Response Fund) norms, a farmer receives Rs 6,800 per hectare as compensation. We have decided to double the amount," CM Shinde had announced after the cabinet meeting. However, the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly had lashed out at the government, claiming that the assistance was too inadequate and the purported rise was an eye wash.
Talking about Bawankule, Fadnavis said that he has been a very staunch worker of the BJP who rose from the lower rungs and went on to hold various important positions in the organisation.
"Bawankule performed very well in all the responsibilities given to him by the party," the deputy CM said.
