Mumbai, September 18, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) chief Sharad Pawar has urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to declare drought in rain-deficient areas of the state and immediately announce a relief package for farmers facing crop losses, drinking water shortages and fodder scarcity.
In a letter to Fadnavis posted on X on Friday, Pawar said erratic and deficient monsoon rains had severely affected agriculture across Marathwada and several other parts of Maharashtra. He sought urgent action on nine broad areas to address the agrarian crisis.
Pawar said standing crops, including soybean, cotton, bajra, maize, tur, moong and urad, had withered in several areas, while pest infestations had added to farmers’ difficulties.
He demanded that the government declare the worst-affected talukas as drought-hit without waiting for normal procedural formalities and provide financial assistance of at least Rs 50,000 per hectare to affected farmers. He also sought Rs 25,000 in special assistance for landless agricultural labourer households and an immediate farm loan waiver to enable farmers to access fresh crop credit.
Pawar further demanded that the incentive for farmers who regularly repay loans be increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. He sought loan-waiver benefits for farmers who defaulted on 2025-26 crop loans because of the prevailing conditions and urged the government to retrospectively extend the Re 1 crop insurance scheme to affected farmers.
He also sought the release of the previously announced Rs 17,000 per hectare crop insurance compensation for damage caused by unseasonal rains last year.
Among his other demands were dedicated MGNREGS works for water conservation and agricultural activities, water tankers for fruit orchards and water-scarce villages, fodder camps for livestock, and a special Energy Department campaign to repair faulty transformers and address load-shedding.
Pawar also called for state- and district-level control rooms to monitor rainfall, crop conditions, water availability, fodder and livestock health on a daily basis. He demanded a complete waiver of educational fees, rather than only examination fees, for students in drought-affected talukas.
His letter came shortly after Fadnavis reiterated his resolve to make Marathwada drought-free on Marathwada Liberation Day.
The state Cabinet had reviewed the monsoon situation on Tuesday, with the Revenue and Agriculture Departments reporting that 83 talukas across 19 districts had received no rainfall for more than 20 days. Fadnavis and several ministers expressed concern over the situation, although no immediate relief package was announced.
The government has said a formal drought declaration cannot be made immediately under existing procedures. According to the Agriculture Department’s presentation, crop-damage surveys and ground verification must be conducted after October 5 under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) guidelines and Central Drought Management norms to qualify for financial assistance.
The department said premature assessments could affect eligibility for central relief and lead to inaccurate damage estimates. The state government is currently preparing a comprehensive package of relief measures for farmers.
Fadnavis has not yet issued an official response to Pawar’s demands.
FOLLOW NOW
