Special action plan soon for permanent benefit of farmers, says Maha CM

Aspecial action plan for the permanent benefit of farmers will be prepared soon along with a host of measures that have been taken for the development of the agriculture sector in the last three months, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said in Nashik on Friday.

He was addressing an event to mark the start of the cane crushing season of Nashik Cooperative Sugar Factory in Palse here.

”After coming to power in the state (on June 30), our government has taken 72 big decisions. These include Bhuvikas Bank loan waiver of Rs 964 crore. We have also changed the criteria for compensation for crop damage due to heavy rains. The aid for loss due to the rain has been increased to Rs 15,000,” he said.

”Our government fully supports farmers and a special action plan for permanent benefit of farmers will be prepared soon,” he added.

The CM said 95 tonnes of sugarcane production per hectare is expected this season, leading to total production of 138 lakh tonnes of sugar through 203 factories.

”Last year, Maharashtra produced more sugar than Uttar Pradesh. The country has 60 lakh metric tonne stock of sugar and out of it, 30 lakh tonnes is in Maharashtra. It is expected that India will export 100 lakh metric tonnes of sugar, with Maharashtra leading with a contribution of 60 lakh metric tonnes,” he said.

Speaking at the ‘Nashik Ratna’ awards event later, Shinde also said the state government will take all efforts to conserve the historic forts here and bring about initiatives to develop the district.

Shinde also inaugurated the division office of the state-run Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research Training and Human Development Institute (SARATHI) during his visit.

He inaugurated the first office of his faction of the Shiv Sena here as well.