Centre to raise compensation limit for crop damage: Jaitley

The Centre will work with the state governments to raise the compensation limit for farmers affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday.

“The Prime Minister is deeply concerned about the loss to the farmers.... The government would raise the compensation limit to help the farmers whose crops have been affected by rain and hailstorm,” Jaitley said while interacting with farmers in Timeli, one of the worst affected villages, about 65 km from district headquarters.

“We take the responsibility to help you stand up again after this huge loss of crops and livestock,” he assured the farmers.

Jaitley said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed central ministers to visit the most affected areas so that assistance and compensation can be facilitated to the farmers.

The Centre in coordination with the state government would provide all possible help to the farmers, said Jaitley, who took an aerial survey to assess the damage to crops and was briefed by district collector Anandi.

Jaitley was accompanied by Union minister for small scale industries Giriraj Singh, state agriculture minister Prabhulal Saini, state transport minister and local MLA Babulal Verma.

“The loss and damage is really great,” the minister observed. Some of the women spoke to Jaitley about their grievances and he assured them of all help from the Centre as well as the state government.

The villagers spoke to the Minister about need for road connectivity as well as actual loss based compensation.

Bundi district congress president C L Premi submitted a memorandum to the finance minister and demanded a compensation of Rs 12000 a bigha and Rs 70,000 a hectare for the affected farmers.