AURANGABAD: The state cabinet on Tuesday cleared the way for distribution of Rs 2,000 crore to the farmers from drought-hit belts of Maharashtra. The move was preceded by the government passing a resolution in this regard on January 7. Accordingly, the Aurangabad division has been allotted Rs 845.55 crore.

As per the cabinet's decision, the amount shall be deposited in the farmers' bank accounts by January 26.

The amount declared by the state Cabinet is compensation to the farmers affected by drought during the 2014 kharif season.

According to the government resolution, the financial aid will be deposited in the bank accounts of the farmers and no cash will be given to them. If the farmers do not have bank accounts, a zero balance account will be opened under the Jan Dhan Yojana and the money will be deposited in it.

A senior revenue official said on the condition of anonymity that earlier, the data consisting the total number of villages with less than 50% paisewari (a method used by the government to calculate crop yield and the intensity of drought), farmers holding less than five acres of land, those having over five acres of land and the ones eligible for compensation was sent to the state government.

But now, the government has the revenue and agriculture departments to jointly send revised data of every farmer, the exact size of land he owns, the crop he had sown, if the farmer is dependent on monsoon, farmers cultivating throughout the year, details of orchards, farmers cultivating crops in the dry areas, etc.

Altogether 8,004 of the total 8,536 villages in eight districts of Marathwada have registered less than 50% paisewari, according to a report released by the state government recently. Other such divisions are Nashik (1,782 villages), Pune (three villages) and Nagpur (2,029 villages). All 7,241 villages in Amravati division have reported less than 50% paisewari.

Besides Aurangabad, the Nasik division has been allotted Rs 386.62 crore, Pune Rs 7.5 crore, Amravati Rs 500.93 crore and Nagpur Rs 259.4 crore.

Officials said that depending on the size of the land, type of crop and availability of water, the farmers would be compensated in the range of Rs 4,500 to Rs 12,000 per hectare.

Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com