The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to restore power supply, disconnected on account of non-payment of dues, to farmers affected by unseasonal rain and hailstorm, and suspend the recovery of loans from them.
The directions were issued by a division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and judge MS Sanklecha on Friday, on a public interest petition by two agriculturists.
The judges ordered the state government to instruct banks and cooperative societies not to suspend the recovery of loans from these farmers till the end of December.
The petitioners, Gorakh Gadge, 35, from Solapur, and Vithrao Pawar, 49, from Pune, petitioned the court through advocate Ashish Gaikwad, to direct the state and the Centre to immediately disburse financial aid to the farmers, as the election code was not an obstacle in the event of a natural calamity.
In response to the petition, the government submitted to the court a copy of a resolution of March 20, detailing various steps it was taking to provide assistance to the farmers.
Additional government pleader Milind More informed the court that Rs260 crore was released on Friday and Rs600 crore would be released in the next two days. The authorities had surveyed an area of 20 lakh acres affected by the hailstorm and relief work had been initiated to help those affected.
The court noted the steps being taken by the state and the clearance from the Election Commission for distribution of assistance to the farmers, and allowed the petitioners to amend their pleas to implead the insurance companies and the home ministry as respondents for seeking further direction.
The court adjourned the hearing to March 28 and directed the state to give details of the directions to officials on the survey and the progress made in this regard.
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