Maharashtra allots Rs 50 crore to prevent farmers' suicides

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced a scheme of Rs 50 crore aimed at preventing farmers suicides.

A provision of Rs 50 crore has been made for the pilot scheme called the 'Late Motiramji Lahane Krushi Samrudhi Yojana', Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said while presenting the state budget in the Legislative Assembly.

"A provision of Rs 1,039 crore has been made for electrification of agricultural pumps for this year. The same was Rs 150 crore last year," he said.

Altogether, 7,540 solar agricultural pumps would be installed in the state under a pilot project, the minister said.

The overall scheme size of the Maharashtra state general budget for 2015-2016 is Rs 54,999 crore, Mungantiwar said.

To overcome drinking water scarcity and drought due to irregular rainfalls, the Jalyukt Shivar Mission (Water Rich Area Mission) is being implemented and a provision of Rs 1,000 crore has been made for this mission, he said.

The minister also announced a Rs 100-crore grant for repair and renovation of Maji Malgujari (Traditional Water Reservoirs) tanks of Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Gondia and Chandrapur districts.

Chain Cement Nala Bandhs Programme will get Rs 500 crore which woould be double that of the previous year's provision.

A provision of Rs 300 crore for micro-irrigation will be made as against 12.50 crore allotted last year, he said.