Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], November 7 : Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday announced a Rs 10,000 crore relief and assistance package for farmers whose crops were severely damaged by unprecedented monsoon rains that lashed several districts of the state this year.
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In a post shared on X, Gujarat CM said, "The unprecedented monsoon rains of a kind that have not occurred in Gujarat in the past two decades have caused significant damage to the crops of farmers in various districts of the state this year."
The Chief Minister added that he, along with fellow ministers, personally visited multiple districts to meet affected farmers and assess the extent of the damage. He assured that the state government stands firmly and empathetically with the "sons of the soil" during this period of distress.
"In this regard, I and my fellow ministers have visited different districts and directly conversed with the affected farmers to understand their situation. In this hour of natural calamity, the state government stands fully empathetically by the side of the sons of the soil, understanding their distress," CM Patel said.
"Keeping in mind the sentiments of the farmers in the face of the widespread damage to their crops across the state, I announce a relief-assistance package of approximately 10 thousand crore rupees for the sons of the soil from the state government," he added.
He further added that the state will begin purchasing groundnut, maize, tur, and soybean worth more than Rs 15,000 crore at support prices from the farmers from November 9.
"In addition, the state government is also going ahead with the purchase of groundnut, maize, tur, and soybean worth more than approximately Rs. 15,000 crore at support prices from the farmers starting from November 9," CM Patel said.
He further added, "I assure you that the state government has always been, is, and will remain committed to taking upon itself the concern for the economic well-being of the providers of food."
Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel chaired a high-level meeting in Gandhinagar on Tuesday to review the overall situation after visiting areas affected by unseasonal rainfall, a press release from CMO said.
Minister of State for Agriculture Ramesh Katara, Chief Secretary MK Das, Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue Department Jayanti Ravi, Additional Chief Secretary of the Agriculture Department Anju Sharma, Principal Secretary of the Finance Department T Natarajan, and Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Avantika Singh, Secretary Vikrant Pandey, and other senior officials attended the meeting.
This comes after CM Patel visited the districts affected by unseasonal rainfall on Monday and gathered detailed insights about the situation from the farmers of the affected villages.
During their visit, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi in Surat and Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani in Bhavnagar gathered information about the crop damage suffered by farmers.