Khadse slams govt for not declaring 3 tehsils in Jalgaon as

Senior BJP leader and former Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse today criticised his own party-led state government for not declaring three tehsils in Jalgaon district as scarcity-hit.
Khadse raised the issue of scarcity-hit villages during the Question Hour of the state Legislative Assembly.
While replying to his question, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said the government has not received any complaint of crop losses from Jalgaon district.
However, Khadse, who represents Muktainagar assembly segment in Jalgaon in north Maharashtra, was agitated over his reply.
"If the Centre's norms for selecting villages under the scarcity-hit category are stringent, then how come three tehsils from Vidarbha region have been selected?" he asked.

"I want to know why tehsils like Muktainagar, Bodwad and Amalner are not declared as scarcity-hit when farmers there have lost crops and the rainfall has been deficient," Khadse said.

As per the anewari method of calculating crop yield, these three tehsils have reported more than 50 per cent losses, the former revenue minister claimed.
"Despite that, these three tehsils are not declared as scarcity-hit," Khadse said.
On a query about the government's plan to compensate people who lost their crops, Patil said, "As per our assessment, these three tehsils do not fall under the category of scarcity-hit areas. Hence, no compensation will be disbursed."

Khadse had resigned as a minister in June last year following a string of allegations, including alleged irregularities in a land deal.