Chandrakant Patil

It is observed that different offices of agriculture department are scattered at different buildings and campuses. Due to this, it becomes a very hectic job for the farmers who need to accomplish their work at Agriculture Departmental offices. To avoid this and to make it convenient for farmers, it was suggested to assemble all Agriculture Department offices under one roof. It has been possible to establish ‘Shetakari Sanman Bhavan’ due to the cooperation of Agriculture College. They have donated 3 Acres of land for this administrative building. The offices shall be operative within the duration of 1-2 years. Farmer’s Training Centre is also planned in the complex. In line with Rahuri Agriculture University, there will be a section where the information regarding new research, seeds and fertilisers will be provided and here, sales facility will also be offered. There will be a provision of 600 stalls in a year and the farmers can get better marketing opportunities through it. Agriculture Minister Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil assured that this ‘Shetakari Sanman Bhavan’ will be highly beneficial to the farmers.

The Bhoomi Poojan ceremony for Agriculture Department’s ‘Shetakari Sanman Bhavan’ was held at Kolhapur and Agriculture and Revenue Minister, Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil was privileged to perform it. Kolhapur District has progressed substantially about agriculture and supporting sectors. It was essential to assist the farmers with integrated solutions by combining all Agriculture Department offices under one roof; moreover, it will also help in the effective implementation of the schemes and will also empower farmers with advanced technologies and facilities. ‘Shetakari Sanman Bhavan’ will play a crucial role in providing various facilities to the farmers. For this project funds worth rupees 29 Crore 80 Lakhs have been sanctioned.

In Maharashtra state, drought remedies and systems are implemented effectively, and the Maharashtra state government is completely prepared to face the drought situation. Also, the ministers will review the condition in their districts. The information is provided by Revenue, Agriculture, Help and Rehabilitation, and Public Works Department Minister, Hon. Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil. Minister Mr Patil added that the Honourable Chief Minister has requested the Election Commission for the relaxation in the model code of conduct to face the drought condition in the state. Also, Guardian Ministers can review their District condition in this drought situation. Being the part of Rehabilitation Department, he will plan state-level visits to finalise and revise drought-related remedies and plans in the state.

Minister Mr Patil said that, for livestock, wherever required, the proper principles are being followed to open the fodder camp. Accordingly, 1264 fodder camps have already started in the state and 8,32,029 cattle are being provided shelter over there. Within these fodder camps, daily 90 Rupees and 45 Rupees allowance are being sanctioned depending on the cattle size. Also, 3699 villages and 8417 Vadis (Colony) in the state are availed water supply through 4774 tankers. 2,74,000 labour has been assigned work under the government scheme – ‘Magel Tyala Kam’ and 34,431 work projects have been completed within the state. Apart from this, approximately 10 Lakh labour can get work through Government initiatives. Minister Mr Patil further added that drought situation is most severe in Marathwada, to overcome that, all the 8 remedial systems of the Government are being implemented effectively. Hon. Mr Patil also informed that instructions are given to authorities for the desired availability of drinking water for people and livestock.

According to the legislation approved in the Legislative Assembly, the Maratha community is not banned for the government recruitment process with the reservation of 16% seats in the government jobs. The court said that the appointment letter should not be given only until the result. Therefore, all the state level departmental recruitment advertisements have taken into consideration 16% reservation of the Maratha community. E.g. The recruitment advertisement for 10,000 teacher’s recruitment process is assumed to be with 16% reservation for the Maratha community.

This was the meaning of the government decision taken by the General Administration Department. Chandrakant (Dada) Patil, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers appointed for the schemes for the Maratha community, appealed to the people not to create confusion and disputes in the society in the wrong way.

To resolve the problem of women who stay in the area where there is a huge scarcity of water or the village is suffering from drought, and also for uniform and genuine distribution of tanker water, Rehabilitation Minister, Mr Chandrakant Patil and the president of the committee took one significant decision to help the victims of natural disasters. This decision is about the installation and mounting of 10,000-liter capacity plastic water tanks in drought-affected villages.

This information was presented by Mr Patil during the meeting, which was aligned to combat the drought situation in Maharashtra. During this meeting, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Development State Cabinet Minister Mr Mahadev Jankar, State Minister Arjun Khotkar, Upper Chief Secretary of Rehabilitation Department Medha Gadgil, Upper Chief Secretary of Water Supply Department Shyamlal Goyal, and Agriculture and Employment Guarantee Scheme Secretary Mr Ekanath Dawale were present.

Mr Patil added that 1688 villages are taking the benefit of the water tanker facility but generally when tanker arrives, there is a huge crowd creating an inconvenience for village women. To avoid this inconvenience to women, they are planning to install 10000-litre capacity water tanks contributed from social responsibility funds. They also discussed with a few corporate companies who are going to help them in this matter. There will be 10 tap connections attached to each tank and the tank will be filled with tanker water. This will avoid the problem of huge crowd rush during the tanker water supply. Sufficient amount has already been transferred to a drought-affected area by the state government. They are also careful that this help is offered to the farmers.

It is observed that during the drought situation around 144.42 lakh metric ton dry fodder will be required for cattle. To overcome this requirement, National Agricultural Scheme Fodder Development Programme is implemented for the production of 9.62 lakh metric ton green fodder. 19,878 applications have been accepted for the 85,338-hectare area. They have been provided with 14,906 quintal seeds yet. Harvested crushed area of 18450 hectares is targeted to produce 14.33 lakh metric ton fodder. This information was presented by Mr Patil in the meeting.

According to the requirement, multiple fodder camps will be started

Osmanabad, Jalna, Beed, Parbhani, Ahmednagar, and Aurangabad districts have already started with fodder camps. 7357 cattle are admitted to the camp. Depending on requirements and after reviewing applications, immediate fodder camps can be started in the region and for this procedure, the instructions are given to the District Collector. If the number of cattle is more and any organization or person is ready to open new fodder camp, they can continue with the procedure of opening more than one fodder camp in that region.

Today the Central Government declared Rs 4714 Crore 28 Lakh fund for drought relief in Maharashtra. This amount is declared in the first step and the State Government is going to take follow-up for the remaining amount to combat drought condition. As the State Government is committed to support farmers, if required the farmers will be supported by State Government till then; this information was shared by Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister, Mr. Chandrakant Patil.

The Central Government has declared 4714 Crore 28 Lakh Rupee fund for the Drought Relief Program in Maharashtra. This decision was taken at the meeting conducted by Central Home Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh. Mr. Patil added that the drought situation has risen in Maharashtra due to below average rains in the month of August and September. The State Government has declared 151 Tehsil affected by drought and an amount of Rs 7950 Crore was been asked for these drought-affected Tehsils. After that Rs. 4714 crores and 28 Lakh fund amount has been declared by the Central Government for this purpose. This amount is significant, and is the highest amount declared for the Drought Relief Fund to the Maharashtra state till date. The funds have been released in the first step now and the Central Government is positive towards the release of next Drought Relief Fund amount. The State Government is going to take follow-up for the remaining amount of Rs 2200 Crore fund.

Maharashtra State has been allotted with the highest amount of fund for the drought relief among all the other states. Apart from this, 268 Mandal and 968 villages which are not fitting in the conditions of the Central Government but have been declared as drought affected will be helped by the State Government on their own. The State Government is planning to distribute Rs 2900 Crore funds on an immediate basis without the availability of funds from the Central Government. Mr. Patil added, the way State Government helped farmers without waiting for the release of funds from the Central Government when the cotton crop was affected by disease (Bond Ali), this time also State Government is going to support farmers in facing drought. Therefore, farmers need not be worried about the drought situation.

Also, the villages which are not fitting in the drought conditions of the Central Government for the fund release, will be helped by the State Government and the proposal is under the process about the fund requirements for these villages. This information was also shared by Mr. Patil.

The State Government has taken significant decisions for drought relief and now the State Government is going to start Fodder Camp in the drought-affected areas. Also, the farmers from the drought-affected areas will be helped by the State Government and the funds to be distributed for this purpose are around Rs 2900 Crore. This decision is shared by State Revenue, Relief, and Rehabilitation Minister, Mr Chandrakant Patil.

Mr Patil shared this information at the press conference organized in the assembly. During this press conference, Upper Chief Secretary of Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Ms Medha Gadgil and Director of Disaster Recovery Department Mr Daulat Desai were present.

Mr Patil informed that the State Government is strongly supporting farmers during the drought condition. There was a meeting conducted for the drought relief and different remedies to fight against drought were discussed in the meeting. In this meeting, the rules and regulations related to starting the Fodder Camp were discussed. According to this discussion, Fodder Camps are going to be started at a regional level once the Collector receives the proposal. In general, one camp will include 300 to 500 cattle. Depending on the count of cattle, if required, one more Fodder Camp can be started in the same region and relative rights are given to the District Collector. The State Government is going to decide in this regard as early as possible. The State Government has also asked government-aided cow habitats or cow tending centres to open Fodder Camps, as an effect of which 5 Fodder Camps are already in work.

The State Government has sent the proposal with the requirement of Rs 7900 crore for drought relief purpose and help to farmers. The State Government is going to help farmers on their own until the funds are released by the Central Government. As per this decision, Rs 2900 Crore funds are been processed for distribution on commissioner level. And farmers will get the helping amount as early as possible in their accounts.

Mr Patil also added that to overcome the problem of water scarcity, many proposals are sanctioned such as tap water supply, pipeline repair, etc. Many other schemes are also being sanctioned for regular water supply. Apart from this, if the water supply is halted due to pending light bills, then the government is going to pay 5% of pending light bills from their funds. This will also start regular water supply if it is interrupted due to outstanding light bills.

It is also decided that the production of fodder needs to be increased. National Agricultural Development Scheme for cattle-feed has provided 10,000 quintal seeds for this purpose.

The decision for the development of Agricultural Complex in the Kolhapur is sanctioned today. This decision will help to organize all agricultural activities and offices under one roof. The meeting was conducted at Agriculture Minister Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil’s official cabin. Other attendees of the meeting were Mr. Sachin Dawle from the Agriculture Department, Mr. Ajit Sagane, the Secretary, Construction Department, Deputy Collector of Kolhapur district Mr. Sanjay Shinde, Regional Deputy Director Mr. Dashrath Kamble, Agriculture Officer Jandev Wakhure, an engineer from Public Works Department Mr. Sonawane, Chief Secretary Of Rahuri Agriculture University Dr. D.D. Pawar and Dr. Gajanan Khot from Kolhapur Agriculture College. It will simplify the earlier scattered process of the Agriculture Department in the district and bring it under one roof.

The Agriculture Department proposed the plan of the Agricultural Complex in front of the Honorable Minister to simplify the scattered process of different schemes and to increase the efficiency and controlling of different schemes. As per that proposal Honorable Agricultural Minister, Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil approved the development proposal of the Agricultural Complex in today’s meeting. Regarding this, the order will be issued in 15 days and respective authorities from the Agriculture Department are instructed about the same. Also, Public Works Department authorities are instructed to prepare an action plan for the development of the Agricultural Complex.

Currently, there are nine different offices in Kolhapur city in the Agriculture Department, out of which 6 offices are operating in private buildings on a rental basis. Apart from this, the Agriculture Department has also finalized to start the Insecticide Analysis Laboratory in the Kolhapur city. Due to this, the total count of Agricultural Offices will become 10. Therefore, the Agriculture Department has planned to organize all these offices under one roof in the Agricultural Complex. Since this decision is approved at today’s meeting, all these offices will work under one roof now.

The proposed Agricultural Complex will contain different bodies under one roof such as Regional Agricultural Department, Project Director, Regional Agricultural Authority, Tehsil Agricultural Authority, Mandal Agriculture Authority, District Soil Assessment and Testing Laboratories, Chemical Fertilizers Analysis Laboratory, Insecticide Analysis Laboratory, and Storage. Along with this, the training hall for farmers, boarding for farmers, library, direct agriculture goods sale processing facilities will also be given in the Agriculture Complex.

Gadhinglaj Municipal Corporation is allowed to extend with the addition of a consecutive area of Badyachiwadi. This decision is theoretically sanctioned by district Guardian Minister Chandrakant Dada Patil in one of the meetings held today. President of Pune MHADA Samarjitsinh Ghatge has urged the government for this demand.

There are 25 to 30 colonies present in the Badyachivadi Gram Panchayat area surrounding to Gadhinglaj city. Badyachivadi village is 4 km away from Gadhinglaj city. This village is connected to the Gadhinglaj city and people need to visit Gadhinglaj city for different things. This area was under the control of Zilla Parishad, a municipal corporation which was not able to provide facilities such as water supply, drainage management, garbage collection in this area. Therefore MHADA president, Pune Samarjitsinh Ghatge along with one committee visited guardian minister Chandrakant Dada Patil with a request to add Badyachivadi in Gadhinglaj municipal corporation. This extension is also accepted by the Badyachivadi gram Panchayat too, and this acceptance is conveyed by the Deputy Secretary Urban Development Mr Moghe to the district guardian minister.

As per the principles, this extension is sanctioned by guardian minister Chandrakant Dada Patil and respective instructions are given to the authority. Due to this extension, 4.6 square km area of a Badyachivadi Gram Panchayat will be connected to Gadhinglaj municipal corporation. Currently, Badyachivadi Gram Panchayat has a total area of 6.25 square km.

Other attendees for this meeting were Urban Development State Minister Ranjit Patil, President of Pune MHADA Samarjitsinh Ghatge, MLA Ichalkaranji Suresh Halvankar, Mayor of Gadhinglaj municipal corporation Swati Kori, Deputy Mayor Uday Patil and other relevant authorities.

Minority farmers who are excluded from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana for the loan waiver are relieved by the decision of loan waiver (Khavati Loan) taken by the cabinet committee for their debts.

The meeting conducted in presence of Revenue Minister Chandrakant Dada Patil to analyze the decision on loan waiver to the farmers. The meeting was also attended by Cooperation Minister Subhash Deshmukh, Cabinet Transport Minister Diwakar Raote and other departmental authorities.

Under the scheme of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Shetkari Sanman Yojana, total 23 lakh 51 thousand loan accounts are given for the loan waiver and out of this 22 lakh, 13 thousand loan holders have taken the benefit of the scheme. This information was presented by the authorities during the meeting.

The State Government was thinking about loan waiver to the minority farmers. The historic decision is taken by the cabinet committee to waive the loans of minority farmers. This decision is informed by Revenue Minister Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil.

Minority farmers need to apply online for the benefit of this decision. Before 1st November they need to register on the website http://aaplesarkar.maharashtra.gov.in/en/.

There was a detailed discussion on the problem of land development bank loan waiver and related issues. Regarding this problem, Mr Patil instructed the authorities to collect information and prepare the proposal for the practical decision-making process.

Honourable Rehabilitation Minister Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil issued orders to help the affected people in Mutha Canal incidence. The help will be given according to NDRF rules. The meeting was conducted in the ministerial chamber to decide for immediate help to the Mutha canal affected people. The meeting was also attended by the Guardian Minister of Pune district Mr Girish Bapat and other authorities of Relief and Rehabilitation and Financial Department.

Last week, the incidence of Mutha Canal wall breakage led to the loss of millions. Many people lost their houses. There was an overall loss to the families with their household material being lost in water flow. On this situation, the government immediately declared help of Rs 3 Crore. Mr Patil instructed the authorities to distribute this help to the affected people, according to the rules of NDRF. Mr Patil also instructed the authorities to transfer this amount to the District Collector for further distribution to the affected people.

Meanwhile, it is also informed that slum dwellers from the affected people in Mootha Canal incidence will be given permanent housing in the same area under the Slum Rehabilitation Department’s Scheme.