The Chief Minister's Relief Fund in Maharashtra disbursed Rs 50.50 crore for drought mitigation measures in the last 45 months out of Rs 87.51 crore it received during the period, a Right to Information (RTI) query has found.
In May 2015, the Maharashtra government had declared drought in over 29,000 villages of the state, most of them located in parched Marathwada and Vidarbha regions.
In October last year, the government had said around 180 talukas in Maharashtra were facing a drought-like situation.
Since the 2015 drought, the government has been making special arrangements to provide relief to farmers and others affected by water scarcity.
In the past 45 months, spread over 2015-16 to December 2018, the government has disbursed Rs 50.50 crore for drought relief from Rs 87.51 crore it received in the Chief Minister's Relief Fund in the period, according to the reply furnished in response to the query filed by RTI activist Anil Galgali.
In his application, Galgali had sought the details of money received in the relief fund and spent.
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The reply, furnished by the Chief Minister's Secretariat Office, said in 2015-16, the CM's Relief Fund had received Rs 32.21 crore and it disbursed Rs 60 lakh.
In 2016-17, it received Rs 28.53 crore, while the disbursals stood at Rs 30.50 crore. In 2017-18, the fund got Rs 25.61 crore and released Rs 7.95 crore, according to the reply.
From April 1 to December 14, 2018, the relief fund received Rs 1.15 crore and disbursed Rs 11.45 crore, it said.
Galgali had also sought the details of recipients of the amount disbursed, to which the secretariat said funds are released to district collectors as per requisitions received from time to time.
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