Maharashtra approves Rs 5,000 advance for nearly 1.5 crore drought-hit farmers
Relief estimated at Rs 7,500 crore; cabinet also clears support for Chipi flights and an exhibition centre in Pune
Maharashtra has approved a Rs 5,000 advance for nearly 1.5 crore farmers with crop losses exceeding 33 per cent across 304 drought-hit talukas.
The cabinet also cleared full viability gap funding for Navi Mumbai–Chipi flights and a national-level exhibition centre in Pune.
Other decisions include earmarking one per cent of district plan funds for disability welfare and restructuring the water resources department.
The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday approved an advance payment of Rs 5,000 each to nearly 1.5 crore farmers whose crops suffered damage exceeding 33 per cent in the state’s 304 drought-hit talukas.
The assistance will be credited directly to beneficiaries’ bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer, according to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat. The payments are expected to entail expenditure of approximately Rs 7,500 crore.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed officials to complete the transfers within the week and instructed that banks should make no deductions from the relief credited to farmers’ accounts, sources said.
In a move aimed at restoring air connectivity to Sindhudurg, the cabinet approved 100 per cent viability gap funding for airlines operating between Navi Mumbai and Chipi airport.
It also sanctioned Rs 66.82 crore in financial assistance to Bajaj Auto Ltd for electric vehicle manufacturing under the Maharashtra Electric Vehicle Promotion Policy.
For Pune, the cabinet cleared a change to the playground reservation of land at Lohegaon under the municipal corporation’s sanctioned development plan. The change will facilitate a national-level exhibition centre modelled on Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
The cabinet also approved earmarking one per cent of District Annual Plan (General) funds for the welfare, rehabilitation and empowerment of persons with disabilities.
A revised staffing structure comprising 39,722 posts was approved for the water resources department, alongside changes to regional offices to support the management of Maharashtra’s expanded irrigation network.
According to the government, the state’s irrigated area increased from 45 lakh hectares at the end of 2016 to 58 lakh hectares by the end of 2025.
The restructuring provides for posts for 1,450 irrigation branch offices and 15 executive engineer-level posts across five irrigation corporations. Three specialist cadres covering land acquisition, agriculture and social change will be introduced, while certain existing posts will be consolidated into a new irrigation assistant cadre.
The cabinet approved the continuation of the Matoshri Gram Samruddhi Shet-Panand Raste Yojana through coordination with other schemes, including the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar & Ajeevika Mission.
Works under the rural access-road programme may also receive funding through District Planning Committees. The programme has been recognised as a district-level scheme, with a state-level committee authorised to resolve implementation difficulties.
Ministers also cleared amendments to Maharashtra’s public-private partnership policy covering project scrutiny, preliminary approvals, proposal documents, transaction structures and bidding procedures.
Other decisions included financial assistance for the Malharrao Holkar Nomadic and De-notified Tribes Cooperative Spinning Mill at Shirur Tajband in Latur district’s Ahmedpur taluka, and the transfer of 289 hectares at Raver in Dhule district to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation for expansion.
The cabinet approved merging the Junior Administrative Officer and Assistant Administrative Officer cadres in Zilla Parishads into a single Assistant Administrative Officer cadre at the S-14 pay level.
It also cleared amendments to the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University Act, 2014, granting the Chancellor authority to remove the Pro-Vice-Chancellor.
With PTI inputs