The Maharashtra Legislative Council today witnessed seven adjournments after Opposition members stalled proceedings on the issue of farmer suicides and Rs 7,000-crore drought package announced by the state government.
Soon after the House assembled for the day, Congress and NCP members started slogan shouting after Chairperson Shivajirao Deshmukh began the Question Hour resulting in din.
Amid sloganeering of "Give Justice to farmers", the House was initially adjourned for 20 minutes after the proceedings came to a grinding halt.
When the House resumed and Leader Eknath Khadse rose to give an explanation on the issue, Opposition legislators interrupted him demanding compensation (through direct cheques to affected farmers) on per hectare basis which led to six repeated adjournments beginning 23 minutes, followed by 5, 30, 10, 20 and 15 minutes respectively.
When proceedings restarted, the Maharashtra Land Revenue Bill 2014 was tabled and passed amid noisy scenes.
Yesterday, the Maharashtra government announced a Rs 7,000 crore package for parched Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of the state, grappling with drought-like conditions.
The package includes Rs 884 crore for horticulture sector spread over 2.45 lakh hectares, Rs 215 crore for paying electricity bills, Rs 425 crore for water supply and Rs 163 crore for wells and private water bodies.
Also, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had assured to waive electricity bills of farmers of drought-affected areas.
