Nagpur.
BJP legislator from Nagpur Sudhakar Deshmukh and former MLA from Katol constituency Sunil Shinde have appreciated the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and extended their thanks for his announcement of Rs 7000 crore relief package for drought hit farmers in the region.
Addressing the media in view of ongoing winter session of state assembly, the duo expressed their gratitude towards Fadnavis for announcing much needed relief to the suffering farmers. They said that the farmers growing soyabean, cotton and sugarcane will be certainly benefitted by the package. However, they said, this year the harvest of oranges is not as expected because of hailstorm and haphazard rains. Deshmukh claimed that oranges are grown on 1.35 lakh hectares of land with around 4 crore trees spread in the cultivated area in the region. Most of the trees died due to the use of pesticides and natural calamities. He said that the farmers had suffered huge losses this year.
Sunil Shinde claimed that the farmers from Konkan region have got a package of Rs 50,000 per hectare for the loss they incurred on the crops failure. The crops mainly included grapes, mangoes and pomegranate. He demanded that orange growers of the region should also be compensated in the similar ratio and be given Rs 50,000 per hectare this year.
He added that the Chief Minister should immediately restart the factory set up in Katol. The owners have fought for two years and have regained control over the factory where juice is extracted from oranges and oil from the peel. He also pointed the rampant corrupt practices in handing out the power bill to these farmers which should be immediately checked.
