Jalna, Nov 8 (PTI) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will visit Jalna on Monday to interact with drought-hit farmers and observe Diwali with their kin.
Officials here said he will visit Shri Rameshwari Mahadev Sansthan at Maujpuri village in Jalna tehsil at 2 pm, where he will interact directly with drought-hit farmers and listen to their grievances.
He will take stock of crop losses, water scarcity, fodder shortages for livestock, unemployment and financial difficulties. He will also meet affected farming families and mark Diwali with them, the officials added.
Jalna Shiv Sena MLA Arjun Khotkar, who reviewed the preparations for Shinde’s visit, said drought had deprived many farming families of the joy of Diwali.
There was need to stand by them during this difficult period, he said and urged farmers, agricultural labourers, citizens and party workers to attend Shinde’s programme in large numbers.
The visit is also likely to bring back focus on the audio clip released here by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange last month about a Rs 500 crore payment to him through Shinde’s Lok Sabha MP son Shrikant Shinde. Shinde and Jarange have refuted claims made in the audio clip.
Meanwhile, speaking in Solapur, Shinde’s party colleague and former Maharashtra minister Siddharam Mhetre made objectionable remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi with regard to the aid given to farmers under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.
Speaking at a public event, Mhetre chastised farmers for their haste to claim the Rs 2000 given under the scheme and then hailing Modi.
“As soon as Rs 2,000 is deposited in your accounts, you rush to banks, almost tearing your dhotis. Don’t you feel ashamed? This (aid) is your own hard-earned money on which you have paid taxes. It doesn’t come from anyone’s father’s house,” he told farmers at the gathering.
On October 30, the PM had transferred Rs 1,835 crore to the bank accounts of 91,12,765 farmers in Maharashtra as part of the 24th instalment of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. PTI COR BNM
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