Ajit Pawar urges farmers not to take extreme steps, says govt implementing several schemes for them

Pune, Aug 22 (PTI) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday appealed to farmers not to take any extreme steps and asserted that the state government was taking all necessary measures to provide help to them.

He was referring to an incident in which a debt-ridden farmer from Nevasa tehsil in Ahilyanagar allegedly committed suicide.

"We have been providing farm loans at zero per cent interest. Both the Centre and state governments are giving Rs 12,500 annually to farmers. We have also waived farmers' electricity bills. In addition, financial assistance is being provided to women under the Ladki Bahin scheme, with the majority of the beneficiaries coming from families of small farmers," Pawar told reporters in Pune.

"Through all these measures, we are extending strong support to the farming community. In such a scenario, no farmer should feel compelled to take an extreme step," he said.

In the wake of good rainfall, all the dams in western Maharashtra were full, Pawar said, adding that the state government was keeping a close watch on their situation.

Water is being released in proportion with the inflow into the dams, he said.

Except the ghat sections, the 'red alert' (for heavy rains) in other regions is over and the situation was under control, Pawar added.

"We have started doing the panchnamas (site inspections) to assess the crop losses. We will stand by the farmers who have borne losses due to rains," he said. PTI SPK NP