Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that every possible assistance will be given to farmers affected by untimely rains and hailstorm. Farmers should not worry as it is the first priority of the State Government to help them tide over this crisis at any cost. The Chief Minister was addressing farmers after inspecting crops damaged by untimely rains and hailstorm in Bagdua village in Sheopur and Sowat village in Ashok Nagar districts on Sunday. He inspected the crop loss in the fields of Ram Prakash Meena, Nathulal Meena, Prahlad Meena and other farmers in Sheopur district and of Devi Singh Raghuvanshi, Shivam, Rajkumar Singh, Ghanshyam, Bhure Ram and Chain Singh Sahu in Ashok Nagar district.
The Chief Minister said that the farmers grow crops with hard work. He will not be left alone to shed tears. He said a survey of crop loss will be undertaken by the staff of Agriculture, Revenue and Rural Development departments with the cooperation of affected villagers jointly. He directed the district administrations to conduct survey with transparency and impartiality. No eligible farmer will be left out in any case. He said that farmers whose crops of wheat, mustard etc have suffered over 50 per cent loss will be given compensation at the rate of Rs 15,000 per hectare by considering it 100 per cent loss while Rs 26,000 per hectare relief will be given against loss to crops of maithi, coriander and other spices.
Chouhan said that farmers whose crops have suffered over 50 percent loss will be provided wheat, rice and salt at the rate of Re 1 per kg till next crop. He said the crop cutting exercise must be undertaken on mandatory basis so that farmers can get maximum benefit of crop insurance. He said that loans will not be recovered from the affected farmers, their short-term loans will be converted to mid-term loans. MP Anoop Mishra said that the Chief Minister is a son of the soil who therefore realises the pain of the farmers. Sheopur MlA Durgalal Vijay and Ashok Nagar MlA Gopilal Jatav demanded maximum assistance.