The Gujarat government on Monday announced ₹3,700-crore relief package for the farmers who suffered crop loss/damage due to excess rains and flooding in several parts in the monsoon which saw the State getting more than 130% rainfall.
The State Chief Minister Vijay Rupani while making announcement in the state assembly stated that total 37 lakh hectares of area under 123 tehsil (taluka) will qualify for the relief under the package.
This covers 20 districts out of 33 districts which witnessed excess rainfall and floods that caused extensive damages to the standing crops in the State.
As per the details, the relief package will cover 27 lakh farmers of 123 tehsils, which have been identified by the state agriculture department based on rainfall data of monsoon.
A farmer having losses in excess of 33 % will be eligible for relief of ₹10,000 per hectare with a ceiling of two hectares.
However, the Chief Minister also clarified that any farmer irrespective of minimum land holding will get ₹5,000 as financial relief or assistance under the package.
The State has received 130.44 % of its Long Period Average seasonal rainfall of 831 mm.
Only 15 of 252 talukas received less than 251 mm of rains, leading to heavy losses to farmers for the kharif crop — mainly cotton and groundnut, both main cash crops in Gujarat.
After incessant rainfall in Saurashtra and other regions, the State government had received requests from farmers and farmer organisations for a relief package as many kharif crops including paddy, sesamum seed, millet (bajra), pulses and vegetables suffered damages due to waterlogging and floods caused by incessant rains in 20 districts.
After the floods, the state authorities had undertaken a survey to assess the extent of damages to the standing crops in the areas which had received excess rainfall.
The registration process will begin from October 1, 2020. The farmers will need to make online applications for the relief package and once cleared, the amount will be directly credited to the farmer's bank account using the direct benefit transfer (DBT).