Maharashtra govt gave aid of Rs 15,000 crore to farmers hit by adverse weather in 2 years: CM

Pandharpur, Jul 16 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday claimed that his government gave compensation of Rs 15,000 crore to the farmers hit by adverse weather conditions over the last two years.

Speaking at an event here, he also said he prefers using helicopter to travel to his village in Satara district than traveling by road which takes 10 hours, and in the time saved, he gets more work done.

"I am a farmer's son. When I go to my village, I go to my farm. Some people (referring to Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray) say that he (Shinde) goes there in a helicopter and does farming. Now you tell me, should I drive for ten hours and go there? In ten hours I can deal with the issues of thousands of people," the CM said.

His government relaxed norms to ensure that farmers hit due to weather conditions get maximum compensation, Shinde said.

"We gave a compensation of Rs 15,000 crore to farmers in two years," he added.

Further, his government has spent Rs 44,000 crore under different schemes for farmers, the CM said. PTI PR KRK