Relief package for farmers insufficient: Sena

The Shiv Sena on Friday alleged that the state government had adopted an anti-farmer policy and said the Rs 1,000-crore relief package granted to the farmers hit by unseasonal rains was insufficient. It urged the government to grant a compensation of Rs 50,000 (per hectare) to fruit cultivators and Rs 25,000 to other farmers.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had last week announced a 1,000-crore compensation for farmers affected by unseasonal rains. Crops on 5.44 lakh hectares of farmland across the state were damaged in rains in November.

Sena workers led by district chief Ambadas Danve on Wednesday held a demonstration outside the district collector’s office in Aurangabad. Danve alleged that the government had misled the farmers by announcing a package that had many loopholes. He said only farmers belonging to the areas where rainfall had exceeded 65mm and those who lost 50 per cent of crops were eligible for the relief package.