Question : Relief Schemes for Farmers

(a) whether the Union Government provides assistance to farmers of Maharashtra during natural calamities;

(b) if so, the names of the schemes under which assistance has been provided to Maharashtra during the last three years and the amount thereof;

(c) whether unnecessary delay has been made in providing assistance and relief work during natural calamities in Maharashtra;

(d) the reaction of the Government in this regard and the criteria and modalities to provide assistance and relief to farmers during natural calamities in States; and

(e) the reformative steps taken by the Government in this regard?

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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(a) & (b): State Governments undertake relief measures in the wake of natural calamities from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) already placed at their disposal in accordance with Government of India’s approved items and norms. Additional assistance is extended from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) as per established procedure. The State Government is responsible for disbursement of assistance to the affected farmers. The items and norms for assistance from SDRF/NDRF are available on Ministry of Home Affairs’ website: www.ndminida.nic.in.
Details of amount released to the State Government of Maharashtra as central share under SDRF and assistance from NDRF in respect of notified calamities during the last three years is as under:-






(Rs. in crore)
Year Maharashtra
SDRF
(central share) NDRF
2016-17 538.88 2224.78
2017-18 1810.125 00.00
2018-19 1287.75 2088.59
2019-20 (As on 27.02.2020) 1352.25 3431.22















(c) to (e): No Sir. As per the “Manual for Drought Management, 2016”, the Central Government constitutes and dispatches the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) to the calamity affected areas within a week of receipt of the Memorandum from the State Government. The IMCT submits its Report for the consideration of the Central Government within 7 days of all relevant information provided by the State Government following the visit to the drought affected areas. The Central Government usually takes a final decision on the assistance to the State from the NDRF within a month of the receipt of the IMCT Report.

The report of the IMCT is considered by the Sub Committee of National Executive Committee (SC-NEC), headed by the Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) in respect of notified calamities coordinated by DAC&FW and by Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in respect of notified calamities coordinated by MHA. Thereafter, the High Level Committee (HLC), comprising of Home Minister, Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, considers the request of the State Government based on the recommendations of SC-NEC thereon, and approves the quantum of assistance from NDRF. This is, however, subject to the adjustment of the balance available in the State’s SDRF, as determined by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

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