Summary:
A family for this purpose has been defined as ‘husband, wife and children below 18 years of age.’ This criterion, according to state government’s figures, will leave around 700,000 farmers out of the. Thehas decided to dig deep into its coffers to offer an annual dole to over 700,000 farmers not qualified for the Union government’s Rs 6,000-a-year assistance.The state government, Mumbai Mirror has learnt, will set aside Rs 4,500 crore for this in its interim budget to be presented on February 27. The package will be aimed at rewarding them for not migrating to cash crops like cotton and soybean.Nearly 50,000 farmers began marching from Nashik to Mumbai on Thursday. Maharashtra governmentUnion government schemeOver 50,000 farmers began marching from Nashik to Mumbai on Thursday; (inset) CM Devendra FadnavisThe march was called off late yesterdayIn election year, state decides not to antagonise those not covered by Modi government’s yearly grant.This is the season of sops. Along with Rs 22,000 crore the government has already spent on farm loan waivers, this marks an eye-popping outlay of Rs 26,500 crore to mitigate farm distress.The state legislature’s budget session commences on February 25.The Union government has restricted its financial assistance to farmers whose family land holding is not more than 2 hectares (5 acres)..