The Maha Vikas Aghadi government was committed to restore the livelihoods of farmers hit hard by the retreating monsoon, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Wednesday. He said his government would soon be announcing a relief package.
Speaking after touring rain-hit Osmanabad in the Marathwada, Mr. Thackeray said he had not come there to announce any random figure merely for the sake of garnering applause. He said the State Cabinet would be meeting in a day or two to decide on the modalities of the relief that would be given to the affected people.
“The situation is terrible. Crops and livelihoods have been destroyed…I am aware that you all have come here with a lot of expectations from me about when and how much will be the package that is announced. But I cannot announce anything that I will not fulfil. Today, I have come to reassure everybody that the government is with you... the spot inspections are nearly 80-90% over and we have received an estimate,” the Chief Minister said in Katgaon village.
Saying the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was committed to restore normalcy in the lives of the farmers as soon as possible, Mr. Thackeray also said the India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials had informed him that the threat of heavy rainfall had now waned, with only the possibility of lightning over the next seven to eight days.
“This year has been a catalogue of calamities — first COVID-19, then floods in Vidarbha and now heavy rains in other parts of the State…I am here to review the losses and to assure you that the government is with you. The soil has eroded in a number of places owing to heavy rains...help will be given as soon as possible.”
Mr. Thackeray has been under pressure from the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Devendra Fadnavis, who has been relentlessly targeting the Chief Minister and the leadership of the MVA government demanding to know why the State government had not yet announced a relief package for the farmers.