Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Chandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar has accused the Maharashtra government that it is contributing to “sugarcane farmers” to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) instead of helping the rain -affected farmers.
He has asked the government to reconsider the decision to impose fees on the sugarcane mill. This criticism has arisen by the government to impose ‘levy’ (fee) on sugarcane in the mill to provide relief to the affected farmers through CMRF.
Pawar said, “I wonder that the Maharashtra government has decided to charge additional fees from sugarcane farmers to provide financial assistance to the flood -affected Marathwada farmers.” I request the government to reconsider my decision. ”
Last week, the government had decided to impose a fee of Rs 10 per tonne on the mill for CMRF and Rs 5 per ton of Rs 5 for the help of flood affected farmers. Many farmer leaders including Raju Shetty, Congress Legislative Council member Satej Patil and NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar have opposed the fee and described it as an inappropriate and financial burden.
However, the government says that this step is necessary to ensure immediate relief to the flood affected families in the Marathwada region, which has been the most affected by rain and floods.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday clarified that this contribution would come from the profits of sugarcane mills and not with the earnings of farmers. Fadnavis said at an event in Ahilyanagar, “There are about 200 mills in Maharashtra. A mill may have to contribute about Rs 25 lakh to CMRF. We are demanding money not from farmers, but from the profits of sugar mills. ”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also attended the event. He took a dig at those criticizing this decision and said that they are presenting it wrongly.
The Chief Minister said, “Some people have fallen so much that they are portraying it as the government taking money from farmers. The truth is that this contribution is from the profit of the mill and it will go to the flood affected farmers of Marathwada. Some mills have also been found to be cheating farmers in tonnes.