Gujarat govt announces relief package for farmers hit by unseasonal rains

The Gujarat government on Thursday announced a relief package for farmers who suffered losses due to unseasonal rains in several parts of the state in March. The relief package for providing “assistance” to the affected farmers was cleared in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel earlier in the day, said Health Minister and spokesperson of the state government Rushikesh Patel.

The health minister called the relief offered under this special package the “highest ever”.

He said the relief package was announced after a loss-assessment survey was carried out in 13 affected districts – Rajkot, Junagadh, Banaskantha, Arvalli, Tapi, Patan, Sabarkantha, Surat, Kutch, Amreli, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Ahmedabad.

Under this package, farmers who lost 33 per cent or more of their total crops will get the financial assistance in addition to the compensation provided by the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) as per norms.

For crops like wheat, chana, mustard, banana and papaya, farmers will get Rs 13,500 from SDRF and an additional assistance of Rs 9,500 per hectare from the state government, said the health minister.

In all, each farmer will get an assistance of Rs 23,000 per hectare but with a cap of a maximum of two hectares, he said.

For the damage to horticulture produces like mango, guava and lemon, the state government will pay Rs 30,600 per hectare with an upper limit of two hectares. This compensation includes Rs 18,000 per hectare from SDRF and Rs 12,600 from the state coffers, said the minister, adding that the state will pay a minimum assistance of Rs 4,000 to eligible farmers.