Cabinet members to tour drought-hit areas

While the state government is preparing for the budget session that commences from next week, the entire state cabinet would undertake a tour to drought-affected areas after leader of the opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil started his own tour of such areas from March 1. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would be visiting Nilanga in Latur district on March 4 and would hold a review meeting on the drought situation at Latur on the same day.

At the fag end of Vikhe-Patil's five-day tour to drought affected areas, which comes to an end on March 5, all the ministers from the Fadnavis cabinet would undertake a two-day tour to drought-affected areas on March 4.

Fadnavis and his entire cabinet would visit these drought-affected areas so that the issues and concerns of the people could be addressed in the upcoming budget session, which starts on March 9.

Vikhe-Patil would be visiting Beed, Latur, Dhule, Jalgaon, Akola and Washim, thereby covering seven districts during his five-day tour. He would be meeting the families of farmers who have committed suicide, gather information on what the situation is pertaining to fodder camps and assess the overall impact of successive drought years on the lives of Marathwada, Vidarbha and North Maharashtra locals.

Expressing the need for a complete loan waiver for the farmers in the state, Vikhe-Patil, who is visiting Beed on Wednesday, said that there have been 3,228 farmer suicides between December 2015 and January this year. He also said that 244 farmers have committed suicide in January 2016 alone and, yet, the government is shying away from approving the complete loan waiver. Demanding the complete loan waiver, Vikhe-Patil said that the continuing suicides prove that whatever measures have been taken by the state government in the name of a long-term remedy has proved to be futile and inadequate.