Maha to step up mechanism to redress farmers' issues: Minister

The Maharashtra government Monday said it will step up its vigilance mechanism to ensure fast redressal of grievances regarding drought mitigation.

There will be tehsil level committees of officials which will take care of crop insurance payments to farmers, the government said.

Agriculture minister Anil Bonde, while replying to the debate on drought and agrarian crisis over the last three days in the Assembly, admitted the state government had received a lot of complaints.

Legislators cutting across party lines complained about poor compensation paid by the crop insurance companies, Jalyukt Shivar's failure to store water, complaints about the farm loan waiver among others.

"It is true right from the agents, company officials to agricultural officers are not available for farmers when it comes to the paybacks of the crop insurance. Farmers do not get response from toll free numbers. This has led to unrest against crop insurance companies among the farmers," he ...