The Gujarat government on Monday announced ₹3,700-crore relief package for the farmers who suffered crop loss due to excess rains and flooding in several parts of the State.

Making an announcement in the State Assembly, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani stated that total 37 lakh hectares of area under 123 tehsil (taluka) will qualify for the relief. This covers 20 districts of the total 33 districts of the State.

Eligibility

The relief package will cover 27 lakh farmers of 123 tehsils. A farmer having losses in excess of 33 per cent will be eligible for relief of ₹10,000 per hectare with a ceiling of two hectares.

However, the Chief Minister also clarified that any farmer irrespective of minimum land holding will get ₹5,000 as relief.

The State has received 130.44 per cent of its Long Period Average seasonal rainfall of 831 mm. Only 15 of 252 talukas received less than 251 mm of rains, leading to heavy losses to farmers for the kharif crop — mainly cotton and groundnut.

The State government had received requests from farmers and farmer organisations for a relief package as many kharif crops including paddy, sesamum seed, millet (bajra), pulses and vegetables suffered damages due to waterlogging and incessant rains in some areas.

The registration process will begin from October 1, 2020. The farmers will need to make online applications for the relief package and once cleared, the amount will be directly credited to the farmer's bank account using the direct benefit transfer (DBT).

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