A nine-member central government committee began its visit to Maharashtra on Tuesday to assess the crop and infrastructure damage caused by heavy rains and floods in August and September, officials said, reported news agency PTI.
The panel members are expected to visit districts such as Dharashiv, Solapur, Nashik and Washim, which reported the most extensive crop damage, they said.
“The central committee has reached Mumbai and will conduct field inspections over the next two days in the worst-affected districts to evaluate the extent of crop loss,” a senior official from the state disaster management department said, reported PTI.
The team, led by R K Pandey, Joint Secretary in the Union Home Ministry`s Department of Internal Security, held meetings with state officials on Tuesday before departing for field visits, reported PTI.
The committee includes senior officials from the agriculture, finance, rural development, road transport, water resources, power and space ministries, besides representatives from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Last month, the state government announced a Rs 31,628-crore relief package for farmers affected by the August-September deluge, which damaged crops over 68.7 lakh hectares across 29 districts. Of this, the Centre earlier released Rs 1,566.40 crore as interim assistance.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said the package was an attempt to help farmers recover from the setback, even though full compensation was not possible.
On October 29, the state cabinet approved the immediate disbursal of Rs 11,000 crore to farmers whose crops and soil were damaged, with directions to deposit the amount directly into their bank accounts within 15 days.
The central team`s report, to be submitted after its field assessment, will help the Union government decide on additional financial assistance for the state.
Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that farmers` loans in the state would be waived by June 30, 2026, based on a report to be submitted by a committee formed by the government. CM Fadnavis stated that this step is being taken by his government in accordance with the promise made in the poll manifesto during the previous election.
“Our Maharashtra government stated in its manifesto that it would waive farmers` loans. We have made a decision on this today. We have formed a committee to prepare a report on how to waive loans and the criteria for doing so. It will review this and submit the report to us by April 1st. After that, within three months, that is before June 30th, we will waive farmers` loans based on that report,” the Chief Minister told reporters on Thursday, as per ANI.
The Mahayuti had made a pre-poll promise during the Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 of giving a loan waiver to farmers.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
